Track-by-Track:

Silver Lining

This song started off as a melodic hardcore project that was inspired by bands like Napoleon, Story of Hope, Counterparts and with a twist of Silverstein. It started off with a tapping riff that we’ve been trying to put into a song for a while. Lyrically, we were motivated to write with a wishful thinking mindset. Focusing on the good that shines out from the bad times and challenges we face day to day. Hence the name Silver Lining, it encapsulates the meaning of the lyrics. The musical process started with just the intro and the guitar tapping in the second verse, and we just decided to see where it went from there.

Sakura Bloom

This song was inspired by Neo-melodic Japanese soul guitar work, as well as indie music. It started off as a groovy guitar riff and branched off into our other favorite genres, like lofi and pop-punk. We wanted to make this song more balanced between singing and screaming, deviating this song from the rest of the EP to break up the sound a bit. Lyrically, we went for a "live everyday as if it were you last" mindset. It coincides lyrically with "Silver Lining" but more in the sense of making the best out of everyday rather than dwelling on the hard times. The musical process was pretty straightforward from having fast punk elements, to simple two step pop punk choruses, and closing it off with a slightly off the wall bridge was just the icing on the cake. Songwriting wise, Taylor and Antonio went wild, giving the bass lines as much voicing as the guitars, giving it a groove and individuality rather than playing a supporting role to rhythm guitar. Jonno’s screams gave this song more dynamics and upbeat aggression, which almost feels like a dichotomy to the song’s structure.

No Requiem

Funny story! This song was originally written as an entry to a gear gods song writing contest. Originally, the guitar work was inspired by one of the OSTs for an anime show called "Jo-Jo's Bizzare Adventure" and was reworked into a more post-hardcore sound. We wanted to tackle different elements from start to finish. We started with a fast Dance Gavin dance style intro, into an upbeat Silverstein verse into a soft clean bridge back into a breakdown. The best part is, lyrically the song is about Final Fantasy 7, completely different than Jojo’s or our normal themes. The time constraint for the contest gave us only a week to get the structure down, but it absolutely helped in being more creative in the way we were able to look at transitions and influence. For instance, we threw a little rap verse on our bridge for the first time!

Stay

This song was focusing back on melodic hardcore elements again. We wanted to tackle a more emotional and hard hitting song, which this one delivers. Lyrically, we wanted this to be about feeling safe around the people you love and care for, no matter the highs or lows. We managed to portray the lyrical atmosphere with the song writing, mixing high energy parts with slow, more emotional bridges.

Heaven Sword

For our last song of the EP, we wanted to write a song that describes us musically. Whether it be back and forth vocal switch offs, or clean midwest emo breaks, this song just delivers a strong closing focus on guitars along with the aggression with the drums and bass. Lyrically, we made this song about the struggles of upkeeping our mental health. The fear and constant self doubt that looms in our minds while trying to fight that feeling and knowing your self worth. This song is meant to give the listener the full Pastel Faces experience from lyrics to song writing, offering the opportunity to dance or cry depending on your mood.