Farewells in love and life are rarely easy. MACEY confronts it all in his latest EP, How to Say Goodbye.
The New Zealand singer-songwriter headed back to the UK, where he originally hails from, to find inspiration for his new record.
“I’ve grown a lot, and a big lesson from this period has been letting go. Learning to let go of negative feelings, of people, of old habits and all the rest,” he says. “It’s been a big, crazy year and I’ve written loads of songs with so many wonderful people, both here and in the UK.”
MACEY is the project of Harry Parsons, whose debut album The Lovers was released last September to impressive streaming figures. Since then, MACEY has been able to create a concise EP of four tracks that highlights his growing maturity as an artist.
The sensitive EP tracks “midnight lover” and “more than a minute” were crafted from his recent writing trip to the UK.
On the former, he asks a woman, “Are you gonna break my heart?” Its black and white music video feels stuck on repeat as the shadow of a woman looms upon a wall behind the singer.
“I’d just been through quite a strange fling, where neither of us were able to be there for each other at the right time, sort of a hot and cold relationship,” MACEY says.
On “more than a minute”, he delves into the painful reality of ending a relationship, a poignant reflection on the sacrifice of present happiness for long-term peace.
Co-written with UK musician Angus Parkin over just a few days, the track is accompanied by a music video filmed on Auckland’s Dominion Road. Walking along the famous strip, MACEY faces the music that he might need “more like forever” to heal.
Previously released track “before you have to go”, meanwhile, revisits MACEY’s grief around his father’s passing against gentle acoustic guitar. He shares advice given to him by his dad and envisions the healing process as a road where he must “pick the pieces up again.”
MACEY’s How to Say Goodbye EP is out now.
