Music: Hey Geronimo – Finale

Brisbane-based Hey Geronimo had us at hello. With its upbeat tempo and catchy guitar riffs, ‘Finale’ features guest-vocalist Jen Boyce of Ball Park Music and a tambourine. Personally, I think any song that features a tambourine deserves some sort of award.

‘Finale’ is a track with a carefully considered arrangement of sound which deals with themes of life, death, and the afterlife. The use of distorted guitar riffs, slightly muffled lead vocals, and angelic harmonies enchant listeners into a dance with death or an appreciation of life, whichever way you look at it.

The lyrics speak of being, ‘the lucky ones’, giving listeners a new found appreciation for life. Yay. 
The track plays with concepts of eternity and afterlife as hinted in the lyrics, ‘feel the heat we’re gonna leave our bodies’ which references the notion of the soul leaving the body after cremation. 
The vocal harmonies which ascend in scale also allude to this concept and the contrast between the distorted guitar, the lead vocals and song’s featured vocals creates distance between these elements, a contrast which is increasingly noticeable as the song plays.

On my first listen of ‘Finale’, the upbeat tempo shocked me into a state of movement and forced me to dance. I am not someone who dances well… for my limbs are strange things I’ve never understood. This song however, is deceptively fun and carefree. I take delight in the fact that, since it explores notions of life and death. I could be dancing on someone’s grave (theoretically of course).

The song’s beginning and end share similarities in tone alluding to cyclical notion of life and death. Perhaps it should be played on a repeat, ‘forever and ever and ever…’ just like eternity, a cycle of which there is no escape.

Although the idea of death being an inescapable part of life is depressing, this song sure is catchy. I love songs that remind me of my own personal end times and the name ‘Finale’ is probably the biggest clue to summarise.

Hey Geronimo are touring Australia throughout December, you can catch them play Finale live on the following dates:

THU 11 DEC | Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC
FRI 12 DEC | Spectrum, Sydney NSW
SAT 13 DEC | Rad Bar, Wollongong NSW
THU 18 DEC | Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD
FRI 19 DEC | Beach Road Hotel, Byron Bay NSW
SAT 20 DEC | The Factory (Downstairs), Maroochydore QLD

Words by Addy Fong