Pale Blue Eyes’ forthcoming album This House is titled after the building on the front cover – the rural Devon home where PBE singer/guitarist Matt Broad grew up and where the band had built a well-equipped DIY recording studio. As the album was being finished, Matt’s mother died, following a heart-breaking degenerative illness. Matt and Lucy had been living at the house, helping to look after his mum.

“When Mum died, five years after Dad, there was this charge hanging in the air, connecting each person in the room,” says Matt. “Time stopped. I felt like I momentarily entered an alternative dimension between life and death. Days and weeks later I’d see my family in every corner of the house – all the reminders, ghosts and memories. Then, gradually, it felt like time for a new start, moving on from the house and my amazing parents.”

New single “Hang Out”, out now with an accompanying lyric video created by long-term band collaborator Dylan Friese-Green, aims to capture the simplistic wonder of being amongst friends, those care-free pleasures. It’s about “the importance of attempting to just switch-off and enjoy simple moments – the sun on your face, hanging out with friends in the pub or in a field, say the band. “In the good times and the bad there’s always the simple pleasure of just hanging out with mates. They can pick you up and inspire you.”

Making music as a means to go on, Pale Blue Eyes’ two albums bookend other significant moments, such as soundtracking the Atmos arts-and-housing project in Totnes (featuring a sound-and-light installation by Brian Eno). There was also the time PBE’s beloved old Citroën blew up between gigs, reinforcing a valuable lesson. “You have to embrace the Berlingo!” says Lucy, rolling out the band’s new motto.

“Change is inevitable,” Matt adds. “You have to embrace it all, the good and bad, and the horribly ugly.”

Pale Blue Eyes
This House
Track List

1. More
2. Simmering
3. Hang Out
4. Spaces
5. Heating’s On
6. Our History
7. A Million Times Over
8. Illuminated
9. Sister
10. Takes Me Over
11. Underwater

Pre-order This House by Pale Blue Eyes Here