Track By Track: Brief Habits ‘Teleport’

Brief Habits second album Teleport boldly leans into the deeply honest, autobiographical lyrics of Dan Rogan, while drawing in equal measure from pop elements and stellar song writing craft. Recorded, mixed and produced by the band themselves. For this track-by-track breakdown of the new album, Dan shares the inspirations and personal moments that went into the process of making Teleport. The songs take on, among other things, growing up, cancer, Twin Peaks, and so much more, all while ultimately making a plea for connection.

Teleport

“That bird on the wire must have so much to write home about”. This line alone – (While hiding a reference to two of my favourite Get Up Kids records) really sets up the major themes that make up the majority of the lyrics of this record – Distance, Time and Separation.

Throughout my life I’ve developed quite a few relationships and friendships that were/are separated by a lot of distance -be it overseas/Interstate/ travel commitments and I guess with these words I really wanted to not only bring out all of the strains and difficulties these situations impose – but also the joyful resignations/deeper connections/ “taking the moments for what they are” mentality that these limitations of time can often create between people.

Call For Help

“Race through the week. Weekends peak to peak. Just to find that nothing lies in wait”

I was super pumped for the Return of Twin Peaks in 2017. The original series was so brilliant and ground breaking. But then there was the return…. I watched every episode completely dumbfounded by the absurdity / frustrated/ bored and was left with a “what the fuck just happened? why am I still watching this show” Every single damn time haha . I still don’t know what to think of it two years later. It sparked the questioning of this song – what can this whole thing of “creating art” really mean? Who are you really creating it for? How much should it be feeling over meaning? Is Lynch a great artist or is he just completely fucking with me? Haha

Another Mistake

“Could you force me to change? I’m too set in my ways and I don’t want to go down as just “another mistake””

Repetition compulsion – is an ungovernable process originating in the unconscious. As a result of its actions, the subject deliberately places himself in distressing situations, thereby repeating an old experience, but he does not recall this prototype. 

Landslide

This is just a simple song about a great first date – yet now it’s so much more than that. It’s the last song I got to play for my mother before she passed away from Melanoma last year. She would always be one of the first people I’d play a song for as soon as we finished mixing it and she’d always be so proud; offer the most amazing support and commentary. Her last night with us I played it for her while the whole family was with her at her bedside. She was in a lot of pain, very tired and had very little energy for words let alone making any movements. As the song finished my sister asked her what she thought of it. She lifted her arm and displayed to me a cheeky smile and a big “thumbs up”.

In-Itself Pt 1 & 2

These two songs are basically about those moments you realise that you’re well and truly out of your twenties and when you’re body/mind can’t take the same beatings they used to – It’s time to look for other things to sustain your weekends and life in general. I also love how much using the same title twice fucks with the boys every time we go to play them. “Which one’s that again?” Haha

All These Years

In Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset, Ethan Hawke’s character Jesse at one point says something along the lines of “I like getting older … it feels more immediate, like I can appreciate things more.” The words of this song really mirror this kind of sentimentality.

Digital

The verses of this song are actually lifted from one of the first songs I ever wrote as an acoustic artist back in my late teens/early twenties. When Elliott started playing the piano chords they just seemed to fit straight into the sombre tone of it all perfectly.

A Lack We Can’t Hide

This is a simple song about acceptance and resolution. That old Niebuhr chestnut “give me the strength to accept the things I can’t change”.

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