Hearteyes returns with HEADBANGERS 2, an expansive, maximalist collection of songs from one of Sydney’s most compelling underground artists.
HEADBANGERS 2 is the fourth release from Hearteyes, the pseudonym of prolific multi-instrumentalist and producer Maurice Santiago. It follows 2019’s Joyride the Stars, 2020’s Even Headbangers Get The Blues, and ROCK ALBUM.
The nine-track project was co-produced and co-written with Nat Sherwood, and features collaborations with Helix Tears member 8485, Jordon Alexander (Mall Grab), Brodinski, COUCOU CHLOE, and Up Late.
Hearteyes notes HEADBANGERS 2 is the longest he has sat on a project. “Exactly 13 months,” he says. “There’s been about 20+ iterations of this record in that time and it wasn’t until December 2020 that it was completed.”
HEADBANGERS 2 hovers the terrain of pop-punk, emo, rock, and hip-hop. Hearteyes explains that the release “evolved into something beyond a collection of songs. It’s labeled as a ‘mixtape’ but following the track by track it may read as a concept record of sorts.
He continues, “Both are untrue – I think this record is a map of the internal destinations I had to confront in search of becoming a happier, healthier, and more compassionate person.”
It is an exhilarating and complicated release, one that jettisons the rigidity of genre. The record charts Hearteyes personal experience living with bipolar. “I was never planning to tell anyone the meaning behind any of these songs, only to let them make up their own mind,” he explains. “but I would be doing a disservice to myself and my experiences over the past two years living with bipolar.”
HEADBANGERS 2 marks the first full release from the newly-minted label Coalesce, whose roster also includes Cookii and Lonelyspeck.
Headbangers 2 is out now through Coalesce.
