Here we have one-half the slice of what Headlights is. It’s one of the two personalities that the Champaign, Ill., band wears at any certain time. The personalities are slightly different, but they do come from the same faucet, just at different points in the pour. With a testing hand beneath a stream of water, the songs that Tristan Wraight puts his name to are similar to the water that follows that initial gush of built up cold that’s been lurking in the pipes since the last vegetable cleaning, tooth-brushing or shampoo job. You feel the water taking heat unto itself, perking up a touch as it settles into a comfortable wave. That transition period is kind of where Wraight languors. It’s dreamy and yet it can still spike and tumble. It’s the “rowdier” face, the one that gets in your face as much as a Headlights song ever will. It’s the dimension of the band that thinks it is maybe going to throw down and then at the last minute comes to its senses and hugs it out instead. It turns to the second party and says, “I don’t even remember what I was mad about. Do you? It just seems so silly now. Water under the bridge, water under the bridge.” There’s some spice there that gets the heart pumping as if there was a fire nearby and the air is tinged with smoke and ash. He’s only to be found in a backing capacity on this session, however, as the band chose to highlight four songs with Erin Fein on lead vocals and what we get is a cohesive group that is the part of the pour that you’d find suitable for bathing. It’s as if you can feel the amber glow that was sunk into these songs about personal difficulties and above all else, living in a place that feels more dead than alive. If it’s a consolation to Champaign, the ghosty, temperance that stems from the gorgeous melodies that Fein develops with her despairing words is enough to make it picturesque in the eyes of an outsider, or someone who can appreciate gloominess for the life it leads, for the self-reflection it allows the one looking in on it. These songs are live eavesdroppings into those reflections, just as they are at the peak of toastiness, worn down a little and slumping in the corner booth. — Sean Moeller

First song
This One (Headlights) [3.42MB] [2423 downloads]


— unreleased
Very personal song. I was kind of coming to terms with some things about myself and my family.

Second song
Songy Darko (Headlights) [3.44MB] [2231 downloads]


— original version appears on Kill Them With Kindness
We were joking about “Donnie Darko” when this song was written and the name stuck. We just couldn’t change it. I think this one is about rivalry.

Third song
Your Old Street (Headlights) [3.51MB] [2314 downloads]


— original version appears on Kill The With Kindness
More about the town we live in, but also a reflection on childhood and searching for inspiration. I think innocence brings about a lot of creativity and that can be easily destroyed as you get older.

Fourth song
Owl Eyes (Headlights) [2.68MB] [2290 downloads]


— original version appears on Kill Them With Kindness
We wrote this in 2005. I was thinking a lot about where we live and how it feels to live here. At the time I really thought that our little town played a big part in how I was feeling.