Halifax folk-pop duo Pillow Fite celebrate the release of their new single, “Half Moon.” Stream it today on your platform of choice. 

Written about the painful experience of seeing a lover struggle with the uncertainty of a serious illness, “Half Moon” is instilled with an intense dose of vulnerability. Ricocheting between verses that brim with despair and hope-filled choruses, frustration, helplessness and worry is channeled through the plaintive and sparse vocal delivery from Art Ross (they/them), while the powerful guitar solo from Aaron Green (he/him) intensifies the desperate hook.

“Aaron and I wrote ‘Half Moon’ during 2020’s second wave of quarantine. On top of everything that was already going on in the world, I was supporting my partner, Loren, who had recently found out they developed melanoma. ‘Half Moon’ is an ode to the heartache of seeing a loved one struggle with this life-changing event,” explains Ross. “The verses outline panic and confusion I was feeling, while the chorus pivots out of that frightened headspace into a more hopeful frame of mind. When I brought the lyrics to Aaron, he paired the stripped down lyrics for the verse with quiet acoustic minor chords, building up to the chorus lift with a chord progression inspired by early 70’s George Harrison. The grunge and rock sonic influences are a big shift in genre for Pillow Fite. But in my view, there was no other way to punch the severity and desperation of the message.”

Taking a moodier, edgier approach compared to their previous singles—the break-up anthem “Alkali” and the debut single “Playing The Fool”—the track recalls the emotional heft and wistful tonalities of Sharon Van Etten‘s “Seventeen” and Julien Baker‘s “Ringside.“

Art Ross and Aaron Green come from disparate backgrounds and musical forms, meeting in the middle to comprise a band that’s tender and fierce, exuberant and gentle. Green—a veteran of the Halifax rock scene, the guitar anchor of Floodland and Hello Delaware—and Ross—a trans songwriter with an acoustic guitar—started writing songs together over text, by accident. Pillow Fite emerged publicly at the start of 2021 with its non-binary gender-subverting aesthetics already in place and a languid lead single in “Playing the Fool.” Halifax, a town built on and stuck in rock music made by men, responded with supportive fervour, selling out back-to-back shows that saw the duo expand its sound with help from the scene’s most in-demand players.