© Yamile Abuid
Fraternal Twin is the project of Tom Christie, returning with his first album in a decade, Halo Fell Forever. Blending slowcore with shimmering guitars, distortion, and introspective songwriting, the album reflects on anxiety, loss, mistakes, and the changes that come with time. Halo Fell Forever brings together songs written across ten years, tracing Christie's journey through uncertainty, self-reflection, and transformation. We spoke with Tom Christie about the making of the album, finding clarity through the writing process, and shaping the record's slowcore-driven sound.
The B-Side Hour: This is your first Fraternal Twin record since Homeworlding in 2016, and several songs on Halo Fell Forever were written around that time. What was it about these songs that made you want to return to them and bring them into this new record?
Tom Christie: Yeah a handful of these songs—"Whirlpool," "Half Grown," "Metamorphosis" and "Tip of Everything"—were sitting around for a long time with a bunch of others of course and I always thought they deserved a home. These ones specifically just ended up gelling really well with the material I was writing after the pandemic started winding down and I was gaining some sort of emotional and mental clarity that allowed me to see the whole picture of this record finally—a record I thought I had written already but now I understand exactly what I want for this band and for my creative output, both individually and with my collaborators and bandmates going forward. It's really exciting and feels very full-circle as well as a new chapter all at the same time.
The B-Side Hour: You've described the years between Homeworlding and Halo Fell Forever as a period of searching, marked by major changes and hard lessons. How did that period shape the way you approached the record, both personally and creatively?
Tom Christie: This was a long period of course where I hit rock bottom and struggled with a long depressive episode that forced me to learn a lot about my own personal shortcomings and enforce the values and boundaries in my life that allowed me to be creative again in a way that feels authentic to me. I think rediscovering myself in a new context and with some wisdom allowed me to approach this record in a pretty holistic way. I think it speaks quite well as a story of growth and a true sum of its parts as opposed to just relying on the strength of the singles we put out to promote the record over the last couple of months.
"It's really exciting and feels very full-circle as well as a new chapter all at the same time"
The B-Side Hour: A lot of the album draws from deeply personal experiences, particularly around mistakes, anxiety, loss, and the way you've changed over time. How do you navigate that vulnerability in your songwriting, and the process of eventually letting those personal experiences become something other people can hear and connect with?
Tom Christie: I honestly just make this music to process my own life and emotions and since the music is so personal, the rest just kind of comes later—I have been fortunate enough to receive messages and emails in the past thanks to the internet from people who seem to have connected with the songs in a way that feels very real. And I think a lot of those people have thankfully stuck around to hear what comes next. And so I am grateful to finally share this with them and whoever else happens to hear it. I am really proud of what we've done with this record.
The B-Side Hour: Halo Fell Forever is a phrase you heard when playing back vocal gibberish while recording the demo of the track, and eventually became a way of reflecting on a "fall from innocence" and learning from your mistakes. When did you realize that phrase could carry the weight of the album as a whole?
Tom Christie: I was actually pretty afraid to name the whole thing after that song because it is the most personal song on the album but I asked my bandmates if they had any suggestions on a lyric or song title that stood out to them and they unanimously agreed that Halo Fell Forever had to be the name of this record. And I think it's a pretty powerful phrase and one of the best lyrics I've ever written. It kind of sums up the whole record in this sort of tragic and beautiful way. I think it has ended up subversively becoming a sort of positive affirmation or mantra to me and defies the doominess of its own language, too.
The B-Side Hour: "Solitude" was a departure for you in terms of songwriting, with your most abstract and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. What made that song feel like the right way to open Halo Fell Forever?
Tom Christie: That song felt like an exciting way to start the record because of the main riff and the whole song kind of challenges a lot of expectations people may have of the songs I make so I thought it would be cool to throw something out there to show that we can do a lot more than what we've already done, especially now that we're a 4-piece rock band. It's also kind of a psychedelic banger in my opinion.
"Guidance is one thing but you really have to light your own way or you might lose your sense of self"
The B-Side Hour: On "Metamorphosis," you couldn't recreate the intensity from your original demo, so you ended up using the demo takes on the finished record. What made those original recordings feel impossible to replace?
Tom Christie: When making the final demo for that song I remember being in my old room upstate and I just hung an SM57 over my guitar amp at a very non-ideal angle just for demoing and convenience because I didn't have a stand to put it on and I just kind of went crazy on feel on that part and it felt so raw and right in the moment. I just couldn't recreate it and I realized I already had what I needed in the demo. It seems to work just fine in the mix with everything else. It really is just about the performance most of the time—so many great records sound kinda dogshit anyways.
The B-Side Hour: In "Lucidity," you sing, "I was searching for a cure but overlooked the curse." You've explained the song is about putting someone else's needs and opinions above your own. What did writing it reveal to you about forgetting yourself and not trusting your instincts?
Tom Christie: I think it came to me later when I sat down with it a bit more and realized what it was really about but it showed me how much I've learned about trusting my own values and opinions and not looking to others for affirmation. Guidance is one thing but you really have to light your own way or you might lose your sense of self.
The B-Side Hour: "Half Grown" was written in 2015 and reflects on the experience of being 24 and accepting that you can't have everything figured out yet. Now ten years later, how does that realization from the time you wrote it intersect with everything you've learned and experienced since?
Tom Christie: That song was actually kind of an intersection between a way I felt about myself as much as it was about a friend who I worried carried too much weight on their shoulders and it almost made them tough to be around sometimes. I think, even with good intentions, trying to control others around you can bring a lot of turmoil and you have to learn to trust and let go. In my experience as well, good intentions have often blown up in my face and brought me some tough lessons—and I'm still here learning like I should. That's what life is all about.
"I think rediscovering myself in a new context and with some wisdom allowed me to approach this record in a pretty holistic way"
The B-Side Hour: The album sits somewhere between slowcore, shoegaze and alt-rock, with guitars and texture playing a central role throughout. How did you approach shaping that sonic palette through the production and arrangements?
Tom Christie: I actually tried to simplify things a bit this go around compared to some of the demos I was making post-Homeworlding. A lot of synths and stuff were showing up in my sketches back then and while it was fun for a while to throw shit at the wall and make something crazy or weird or expansive, I started to feel like it wasn't me. I ended up paring down elements a lot and started to see things more clearly. A few of the synths from some of the demos appear on the final recordings but these days I treat them more as a reinforcement of what's going on in the guitars—something I identify much more deeply with.
The B-Side Hour: Halo Fell Forever was recorded before the current Fraternal Twin lineup came together. How do you envision bringing these songs to the stage with the current band?
Tom Christie: We've actually been playing a lot of the new record for quite a while and developing the live show around this material—the current lineup of me, Marco Spodek (drums), Mariah Houston (guitar) and Forrest Philpot (bass) came together last summer for a tour and we've really honed in on what these songs are all about and I think it's definitely come to define where the band is going and what I've always wanted for the band. It feels really dynamic and true to what I'm writing and I'm excited to explore more of these songs that have been adding up in the background—it's time to make another record as soon as we can.
Stream or Purchase Halo Fell Forever