And Hale — along with her percussionist kid brother Arejay , with whom she first began performing as a kid back in Red Lion , PA — has lived quite a spectacular one . Some pieces of her past haunted her in a good way ; all through lockdown , she wished she still owned a comforting family dog , as she did in childhood , and she ’ s currently in pooch-purchasing mode , trying to fathom the possibilities of taking a furry new friend along on the already-crowded Halestorm tour bus ( with |
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of our shows in the UK , and they all travel together , and they ’ re just awesome . But I told Joe ( Hottinger ) that they all caught Covid and said , ‘ I dunno why this hasn ’ t happened to ** us yet ! We keep getting put in these weird situations where it really should have happened .’ But hey ,” she adds , loudly knocking nearby wood in her room for luck , “ so far , so good . But obviously , ( the pandemic ) is still going on , and I ’ m triple-vaxxed , so if something happens , it hopefully won ’ t be that bad .
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that , I almost feel like a scientist or a doctor , with that detachment .
We don ' t do “ Please Be Happy ,” and I ' m glad about it [ laughs ]. That one is a bit more raw for me . It ' s very difficult for me to listen to that song .
IE : Does writing these difficult songs relate to the Janov concept in terms of catharsis ? RO : Catharsis is literally catharsis . When you do primal therapy , which I did for many , many years , you are literally mourning . You are taking the deepest , most repressed emotions and allowing them into the light . Writing music ' s not really like that . It ' s a way of communicating . And so many of our human experiences are similar . I think the job of the artist is to take a difficult subject and
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IE : “ Rivers of Mercy ” is a topical song that must have been written in response to civil unrest and lockdown in 2020 . Streets are burning , and people have their immunity in mind . That was a tough season on hope , but the song is hopeful . It reminded me of Peter Gabriel ' s “ Blood of Eden ,” musically and thematically , about relying upon a partner . I wondered whether there might be something in the water and Bath [ the English city where Orzabal , Smith , and Gabriel are from ]. Can you tell me about writing that song ? RO : I was presented with what was originally the backing track for “ Rivers of Mercy .” [ The Tipping Point co-producer , co-writer , and musician ] Charlton Pettus and our keyboard player Doug Petty did it . Within that backing track , there was a feeling of such immersive calm that it was very easy to come up initially with the chorus with the idea of “ drop me in rivers of mercy ”– like Al Green singing |
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Arejay , bassist Josh Smith , guitarist Joe Hottinger , plus stage crew ). “ But I grew up on a small 20-acre farm , with sheep and chickens and dogs , so there were always animals around , and I kind of miss that ,” she says wistfully . “ But in Nashville , where I was holed up , the great thing is that I do have a lovely house with a studio and all of that , so that really helped because I kind of got busy . I did eleven collaborations , and obviously , I was making demos for songs . But there was a point in time where I really needed a distraction , so I started hosting some shows and trying to record some stuff in my basement , just trying to keep my hands busy .” She can ’ t stifle an ironic cackle . “ What ’ s the old saying about idle hands being the devil ’ s workshop ? It ’ s very true . You ’ ve got to keep ‘ em full of something !” Some spirits the singer exhumed weren ’ t nearly as friendly . Her younger sibling contracted Covid post-vaccination ; she did not . Thankfully , Arejay ’ s proved mild , and its aftereffects passed quickly . Band bassist Smith , however , caught the coronavirus on a UK tour , possibly from one of Halestorm ’ s rabid overseas followers . “ Everybody that had seen us on the last day caught Covid , everybody that was in the front row at our final show ,” she notes . “ They were all of our super-fans that were going to every single one
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But it ’ s scary . It ’ s scary for a lot of people right now , still .”
The more the shut-in focused on herself during lockdown , the clearer her focus became on the Big Picture — that humanity has basically learned nothing from a tragic universal experience that should have united us all on the same climate-change-respectful page , and we ’ re basically hurtling even faster toward our own well-deserved extinction . On the eve of Roe v Wade ’ s being struck down by tired old Conservative white men who know nothing about a woman ’ s body , Hale , now a wise , seasoned 38 , pauses thoughtfully before addressing the subject . “ It ’ s hard ,” she decides . “ It ’ s hard to keep that faith in humanity . It ’ s hard to look at the world and see how we ’ ve taken these ginormous steps back . It ’ s 2022 , and people are still fighting over all this petty bullshit , this world shit that doesn ’ t matter , but there isn ’ t going to be any world to fight ** for ! And it ’ s like , ‘ Come on , people ! This is ridiculous ! We ’ re not looking at the things that actually matter !’” And yes , she adds , she ’ s seen Adam McKay ’ s brilliant climate-change-ignoring allegory ** Don ’ t Look Up , and she loves it , particularly its ( spoiler alert ) final scene with Jonah Hill as the rubble-scrabbling # LastManOnEarth , desperately casting out his cellphone signal for # followers . “ It was an amazing film and real-
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turn it into a beautiful form that involves language but doesn ' t enter the brain the same way language does . It immediately cuts down barriers . It enters into the deeper feeling part of the brain . I think the job of the artist is also to try and communicate the exact nature of what makes us all the same . So , the connections and the similarities of human experience are universal . I think that ' s why we love music because we can feel how that person is feeling . It stops us from feeling alone . It makes us feel connected to some kind of universal source .
IE : You balance those troubled songs with something uplifting like “ End of Night ,” which is placed on The Tipping Point almost as an antidote that celebrates redemption and rebirth . RO : Well , we ' ve done that in the past , haven ’ t we ? For every “ Working Hour ” and every “ Shout ” or “ I Believe ,” there is an “ Everybody Wants to Rule the World .” We ' re known for pop music . That ' s what we do . But I mean , our two biggest hits are very , very different . “ Everybody Wants to Rule the World ” is a kind of subtle dig at politics , but our next biggest hit is “ Mad World .” The subject matter is very different .
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photo by Frank Ockenfels
“ drop me in the river .” Of course , that was only the start of the song . Then we had the BLM protests and the riots and a lot of rage and anger . That was very disturbing for me . I think it was disturbing for a lot of people because I think that we do have an immense and deep desire for peace .
So that song was one of contrasts , as you can hear on the album . We start off with the sound of the riots and sirens and the gunshot . But there ' s really only one way to reconcile things , which is probably the most difficult one . That is the path of forgiveness . It ’ s not something that I find particularly easy , and I don ' t think a lot of people do . But that ' s really what that song is about . I find that song more difficult to sing live , to be honest with you , because it involves such yearning . It ' s a spiritual moment in the set .
We do four new songs in a row , which is brave in itself . And it ends with “ Rivers of Mercy .” At that point in time , I think the audience goes , “ Okay , I give in .” [ laughs ] IE : Maybe you should continue with the rest of the new songs ! RO : Exactly .
IE : “ No Small Thing ” makes an uncharacteristic and fresh introduction as the album ’ s
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