FOLLOWING An Honest Mistake’s single “All Over Again” in August, the band released a brand new single, “Never Feel The Same”, on Nov 26 that lead singer Darren Teh claims is the band’s shift into a new, more adult sound.
Touching on darker and heavier themes, the new single sees the rock band leaving its earlier established pop-punk roots that have been a mainstay since the band was formed in 2008.
In order to tap into this transition of sound, ideas and transformation, Darren drew inspiration from the people around him while analysing their relationships when writing “Never Feel The Same”.
The idea was to be neutral, yet told and sung from a position of mutual empathy.
“A lot of the songs I’ve written have always been reflections of the people around me. I would often put myself in their shoes and write as though I’m the one going through something. Lately, a lot of my friends have had terrible breakups [and] divorces, and some are on the verge of divorce,” Darren explained.
“With this song, I imagined I was in a toxic relationship, and we all know how hard it is to get out of. It’s an exit song pretty much, as in: ‘I’m done with this. I’m out. Bye’. Sometimes, we go around in circles and we can never find the door out.”
In a brief interview with LYFE, Darren noted that while he never personally experienced being in a toxic relationship, he nonetheless had a bad experience from a past relationship that stemmed more from familial toxicity that led to the relationship sadly falling apart.
“We all need to do ourselves some good and reward ourselves. If it’s bad for you, it’s bad for you. The band hopes that listeners who are having a hard time will not be caught in this endless loop of toxicity and will rise up to move forward”.
Along with the song that was released digitally, An Honest Mistake has also released a music video for ‘Never Feel The Same’. The band’s output has been made possible with the aid of a CENDANA funding programme, the Independent Music Funding Program.
The single is part of an upcoming full-length album by the band that will be released next year, and it firmly establishes the concept of the full length’s overarching theme.
“Running away with the person you love or living this fairy tale kind of life [is] very far from reality. While it sounds fun and acts as an escape, it just isn’t real. Reality is rarely ever like that so with these new songs, and I wanted to be in touch with my emotions even if it was living through someone else’s experience,” he said.
“I wanted to be more honest. More real.”
