Pale Oaks - 'I’ve Been Better' Track by Track

Pale Oaks, a 4-piece alternative rock band from Athens, Greece just released their debut EP, I've Been Better. Singer and guitarist, Akis is giving fans an insight into the EP with his track by track guide. Read it and stream the EP below.

The title “…I’ve Been Better” is something that I think many of us think but rarely say. I feel that there is this pressure, especially if you spent a lot of your time on social media, to always feel happy and positive. For me, there was a time when I was writing this record that things were falling apart in my personal life and I just wanted to use that title to say that it’s okay to feel depressed or unhappy sometimes.

Drink & Share: Have you ever a had little too much to drink and then said things you absolutely shouldn’t? This song is about that. Musically, I was really into the War On Drugs when I was writing this song but I wanted to add something a bit over the top and heavier. Like a mix between “Different People” from Biffy Clyro and WOD’s “An Ocean In Between The Waves”.

Snow: I think I was trying do a song that “AM” era Arctic Monkeys would write if they were into ‘00s emo bands. The lyrics are about wanting to make music into something more than a hobby but maybe I should admit that this is nothing more than a pipe dream. I tried to tell that story in the form of two people wanting more than what they have but always falling short and never catching a lucky brake, eventually tearing apart their relationship.

Thieves: What do you do when you are in a relationship, you stop being in love but deeply care for that other person? Some times you stay in that relationship pretending that everything is okay, you try to force yourself to feel like you used to and you blame yourself for hurting someone you care about.  The Michael Jackson influence on the pre-chorus is pretty obvious!

Colors: We scrapped everything we had for this song on the day we were in the studio to record it. So the lyrics were written in a stream of consciousness way.  Again I think the Biffy Clyro influence is pretty apparent here as well.
 
Disasters: We had this beat that was kind of reminiscent of Tegan & Sara’s “The Ocean” and we built on that. It sounds like a straightforward pop punk song but there are many elements that are barely audible in there like Rhodes piano parts and synths.  I really like the ending. Songwriting-wise there is absolutely no reason for that part to be there but it is really heavy, sludgy and very fun to play so we decided to keep it.

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