Track By Track: Silentjay x Jace XL - Sacrifice EP

Silentjay x Jace XL set the bar high for their Sacrifice EP starting with the video for their R&B-inspired track Rockabye. The video follows two lovers and their intimate moments behind closed doors, away from the rest of the world in their own little haven of solitude and privacy. It’s almost like we’ve been given a secret look into their private thoughts, and director Alex Hulsey should be given a shout-out for marrying music and visuals to the tee, creating a poetically endearing narrative. It speaks to that honeymoon period of young love; that lust-filled bubble of craving each other’s undivided attention and affection. But then, the bubble breaks, when that love and lust quickly blur into that dangerous grey area of dependency, and constant affirmation of one’s self from the other.

Grab Sacrifice HERE and check a track by track breakdown of the EP below:

Hey there Pilerats, thanks for the love…

This EP was an attempt to reconnect with our youth and mutual love for R&B, here are some brief vague descriptions on each track lol. hope u enjoy :) j x jace.

INTRO:

This was one of the first ideas we had. We felt like we should start a body of work with this as a throwback/homage to classic R&B records, but it turned out to be the last thing we recorded. Jace came up with this dope idea to cleverly weave the track titles into a cohesive story that summarises the EP. We left some tram sounds in the background so it sounds and feels like home.

JUST WAKING UP:

The frustration and fear of forgiveness that leads to ignoring or ‘sleeping’ on making change. I wanted to create a dream-like atmosphere to complement the lyrics and melody. We started this track wanting to sound like you were listening to this on your headphones before drifting into a dream-state, then at the end, wake up from the dream with the magpies calling.

SACRIFICE:

A personal reminder to yourself and loved one of the balance between selfishness and selflessness. Sacrifice doesn’t mean surrendering or refusing, but understanding both sides and making them work for you. We felt that ‘sacrifice’ was the reoccurring theme throughout the EP which is why we named it after it.

ROCKABYE:

The fear of falling/failing and being faded. This one was the first track we came up with for the EP and set the tone for it. The lullaby-like melody contributes to the dream-state overtones throughout the EP. Jace initially showed me the hook, which he recorded on his phone on the walk to my place, and we ended up building off of that and came up with it pretty organically.

EVERYBODY WANTS YOU HERE:

Jace was singing this round the house one day and the way he sung it made me want to re-contextualise it from being a sensitive ballad to something you’d want to hear at a warehouse party at 4:00am. Dark and hazy, like a bad dream. A warped perspective on a nostalgic song from our childhood.

BRIS VEGAS:

The sun shines bright in Brisvegas. This one was inspired by an experience/interaction we had while on tour in Brisbane with Hiatus Kaiyote. Missed communications, bad timing and sliding doors but acknowledging putting in work to make it work. It was made round the time I was experimenting with footwork tempos.

VIBRATE:

This one happened on a rainy day, cold and longing for that warmth. Being infatuated with a lost one and still craving that connection. Indulging in a dream. This one in particular took us both on a journey, and it wasn’t till we came out of recording that we realised what we had come up with. We felt this track naturally encapsulated the EP.

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