With the release of his sophomore EP BEASTS, Melbourne songwriter Luke Carlino continues to explore the emotional depths of relationships (the good side and bad), personal growth and personal fears. Carlino, a new fixture to the Melbourne scene – but a favourite in his hometown of Adelaide – has been building consistently on layered sounds, which fans saw impressively with his single ‘Minute’ earlier this year.

Luke Carlino – talks us through his new EP ‘ BEASTS’ 

Beasts

The opening track on the EP was inspired after I spent far too long in the comments section of some pressing issue at the time and was really bummed out. I thought about how despicable the comments section can be, and how people write things they probably wouldn’t say in public purely because there is this online veil. The worst part is how upset we often get about the things that are said, that’s when I took a step back and realised that it probably doesn’t matter.

Heartstops

Heartstops was the first song I wrote for the new EP and showed to SixFour, so it really set the tone for the style and feel of the EP. Musically it’s quite bright, but lyrically it touches on death and relationships. I wrote it soon after I lost my uncle and was obsessed with spending as much time as I could with loved ones because it can all be gone in a second. So this weird love song driven by the fear of death emerged, and that is Heartstops.

Minute

Minute was written about the moment in relationships where one person shuts off. Daydream Fever came on the track and took this idea even further with one of my favourite verses; he has a way of really telling a story with his lyrics, and he took this song up a notch. I love the idea of being weakened over the weekend, it’s my favourite line in his verse, and we both had different ideas of what it meant. For DDF, it was the partner giving in a little and warming up over the weekend, for me it was losing more hope. Light and dark. I love how things can be interpreted in both extremes.

Droplet

I wrote Droplet a long time ago for my partner at the time. It was a birthday present and a song that was only meant to be for her. That relationship ended quite spectacularly, so I decided to put the song out there for anyone willing to listen. I grew up listening to Jonah Matranga and his band Far, and I met him at one of his shows in London and showed him the song, asking if he would be a part of it. I never expected him to get involved, but he did, and it still blows my mind whenever I hear his voice alongside mine on the track. His melodies are so unique, and they fit the song so well. Teenage me is freaking out.

This Won’t Go Well

The last song on the EP is also possibly my favourite. It’s a very raw and honest song that was meant to be about relationship breakdowns due to neglect, until Sasha March came on board and flipped the idea, bringing in some positivity because she is a beautiful, positive person. I love her voice and am very glad to hear it alongside of mine on this song. The light and dark idea appears once again, and I feel like we helped further this in the song’s video.

Have a listen of the EP here and do your dusty ears a favour: