While quarantined during the pandemic, punk rocker Sean Hall decided to beef up his home studio. He added a drum set to his collection of guitars, got acquainted with Ableton music production software, and began recording and mixing songs all by himself.
The songs are being released under his new solo project, All You Need Is Kill. The name was taken from the Japanese fiction novel that inspired the 2014 Tom Cruise flick Edge of Tomorrow. Hall recently dropped two All You Need Is Kill singles, “Wavelengths” and “It Waits For You.”
Hall cut his teeth on the Austin, Texas pop-punk scene in the early aughts as bassist and lead singer of Good in the Sack. For “Wavelengths,” he wanted to return to the fast skate-punk sounds he grew up on in the ‘90s.
“A lot of the new pop-punk resurgence is drum-driven because everybody really likes Travis Barker these days,” Hall said. “It’s fast, but I would call it mid-tempo fast. What I really wanted was to write what I consider good pop-punk, which is Ten Foot Pole, Pulley, or NOFX-style speed punk.”
“It Waits For You” has more electronic elements and a melancholy feel. Lyrically, both songs carry themes of isolation and disconnection.
“I’m not saying I’m feeling lonely in my current situation,” said Hall, now in his 40s and married with two kids. “But I was thinking about how you can feel a million miles away from someone even if they’re in the same room as you.”
“There can be bitterness about the way people act,” Hall continued. “Just feeling like you’re not on the same level, which I think ‘Wavelengths’ really speaks to. ‘It Waits For You’ is more about consequences.”
Hall has a message for everyone who listens to the singles, which are available on all streaming platforms: “If you like it, tell your friends. If you hate it, tell your enemies.”
“I’m excited for people to hear it, and I’m happy to be putting myself back out there again.”
