Silo vocalist Kriss Maguire guides us through the purpose and power that define their gritty, grand debut album, from front to back.

‘Haze’ is a product of love and hate. It is a record we are immensely proud of, and one we never thought would see the light of day. We recorded the album for ourselves over the space of 7 days with Kel Pinchin at The Ranch Production House in Southampton.

Our only aim for the record was to make something we were proud of, and something we could listen back to as we grow old. Haze is our sonic expression of internal aggression, and we recorded it because we had to, for us.

We’ve spent so many hours in the jam space writing these songs together in person, just for us, and we didn’t want to lose or forget the music we created together.

Static Screen

We wanted ‘Static Screen’ to start the album and set the tone lyrically for what’s in store on ‘Haze’. “In solitude between the evening and the dawn, Half-awake with the static screen” speaks to that space where you are caught up in your mind, and you know something isn’t right, but you’re not ready or know how to fix it. It speaks to the internal voice that keeps you up at night, that same voice that speaks to you in your dreams. 

You know the damage you’re doing to yourself and the relationships you have with the people you love, but your still stuck there anyway. It’s not dramatic, it’s just constant. Like staring at something for too long until it just stops making sense and you feel numb to it.

Spin

‘Spin’ is a battle about the rush, the denial and the moment where control flips into panic. It speaks to the spiral when you’re chasing something you’ve already lost. It’s not just about gambling and how venomously evil it is, it’s about how this mindset controls your every waking moment.

“Dead in the water, waiting for calm, holding onto a hole in my head, where clouds reform” This line speaks to those small moments in your mind where the clouds part and the sun shines through, Where you think, ‘ok, I’ve got this’ But ultimately this is a veiled disguise for the illness, to make you think you have it under control while it’s digging its teeth deeper into your brain. This is echoed by the last part of the track “Honest, I’m Reborn. So quick to kick the sin, they’ll make you feel alive as complacency kicks in”.

‘Spin’ is a blunt force recognition of illness and deterioration as your mind plays tricks on you to “make you feel alive”.

Crawl in a Bottle

‘Crawl’ was one of the last tracks we wrote for “Haze” and is written from that first moment of having to sit down and face yourself properly. It’s understanding your demons are there, and they have a voice that you need to hear. You need to hear them to kill them. It’s about accepting there is nowhere to hide, there are no distractions, just your own thoughts being said out loud. “Can I think now, open me up” speaks to the vulnerability it requires to accept your faults and to begin the process of self-reconciliation. It’s about realising, accepting and understanding things about yourself that you’ve probably always known, but never actually confronted.

Ill Intent

‘Ill Intent’ is a track that is purposefully raw in intent and emotion. It’s me speaking directly to a situation that’s been pushing me for a while. Taking advantage of my better judgment and willingness to try and look for the good in any situation. It’s about that feeling of being tested over and over and over until I hit a point where I have to stand my ground.

The track is a journey through me recognising the situation and the decaying of my ability to be pushed anymore. The tone of the lyrics changes through each passage, and the delivery intensifies to hit home that I have had enough, I’ve been pushed for too long, and I need to stand up for myself. I deserve better.

Split My Mind

‘Split’ is the oldest track on the record and is about coming to the realisation that what you thought you wanted may not be the best thing for you. There’s a strange pull to it, part of you knows it’s not good, but the other part of you wants to lean into it anyway. Like ‘Spin, ‘Split’ talks to acknowledging the sometimes weirdly comfortable dark place where we find ourselves.

“When you take my hand you hold me down, Feel’s like you want me underground. Not so dead, just sedated in my head” underpins the sentiment of the track, the absent-minded feeling, that almost hypnotic state, that we can get into with a situation that is bad for us before even realising we are there.

‘Split My Mind’ is about that moment where things start to slip, and you realise, you’re not fully in control anymore. It’s that shift in perception where everything feels slightly off, like reality is bending around you.

Forget It

‘Forget It’ is the spiritual response to ‘Ill Intent’ in both the music and the lyrics, it’s what comes after you’ve been pushed too far. It’s that point where you stop trying to understand someone and just decide you’re done with it. No reconciliation, no resolve.

“Do you still feel alone? All that misery you put on me, Was it ever enough?” There’s frustration there but it’s also more than that, its clarity. It’s realising that I’ve been giving energy to something that was never going to give anything back. It’s a final statement to forget it.

What’s Left of Me

What’s Left of Me’ started life as a very different song, and it’s one of our favourite tracks on the album. It’s one of the tracks where we lean into our love of open space and a dynamic shift in sound. I leaned into my love for changing up my vocal delivery here and take a more rap approach through the verses before opening it up into the chorus. With this track we wanted to showcase everything that I can do, sing, rap, scream it covers all three of the delivery styles that like to we play with in one song.

Our favourite part of the track is the bridge build-up to resolve. Chris came in with this bridge, and instantly, as soon as we played it in the room together, we loved it. It has that sound we love.

Although there’s anger in the lyrics, underneath it’s grief. The lyrics centre around “what’s left of me” when all is said and done.

Low Sun

‘Low Sun’ is a dichotomy. On one side, it is probably the closest thing we have to a ‘love song’, but on the other side, it’s that of staying in or not being able to leave an abusive environment.

As soon as we wrote ‘Low Sun’ in the room, we knew it would fit perfectly as a mid-album track to give a bit of respite, and to show that we aren’t just a one-sound type of band.

Silo is our outlet for everything, and that can take form in many ways, so it’s nice to have ‘Low Sun’ on here to give everyone a look inside from a different less aggressive stance musically.

Jaw Wire

‘Jaw Wire’ was the track we had to work on the most during the recording with Kel Pinchin. We were back and forth on how the verses should work and how they should be delivered. The lyrics are about finding something real at the wrong time, and we wanted the intensity and space to reflect this. The lyric “Would you dance with the devil if your feet can’t keep the beat?” speaks to that fact. Even when you know the timing and the circumstances don’t allow it, would you still take the risk?

Bai Lan (Let It Rot)

‘Bai Lan (Let it Rot)’ is an old track for us, and the name comes from a Chinese term (摆烂) which is about giving up on something and letting it fall apart rather than trying to save it.

Like ‘What’s Left of Me’, Bai Lan has a bridge that we love to play live; it’s another track where we dive into the other side of the Silo spectrum and enjoy our post-rock guilty pleasures.

Imposter

‘Imposter’ is exactly that. It’s about Imposter Syndrome. Dealing with that voice that tells you, “You don’t belong, no matter what you’ve done to get where you are or how much work you have put in, you do not deserve this.

 Lucid

‘Lucid’ was always going to be the last full-band track on the record. It was written with that purpose in mind. It is the natural end to the emotional chaos that we have tried to address throughout Haze. “Is it a perfect day when the sun shines? Or is it just as perfect at night with closed eyes?” This line captures the central tension of the record. We won’t go into its exact meaning, but it sits in the space between light and oblivion, between being fully present in the world and wanting to slip beyond it.

It asks whether peace is something found in living through the weight of it all, or in letting go of that weight entirely. Sleep speaks to the finality.

Times Change

‘Times Change’ is an extremely personal song and a last-minute addition to the record. It’s a track about losing an immediate family member and trying to reconcile how the world can take people who gave absolutely everything to other people.