Singled Out: Empire Springs' Drawing Lines

Keavin Wiggins | 04-27-2022

Cover art

Empire Springs are releasing their new concept album, "The Luminescence," this Friday (April 29th) and to celebrate we asked bassist/vocalist Brett Bellomy to tell us about the song "Drawing Lines". Here is the story:

"Drawing Lines" will always be a special song to me. It was the first song we ever worked on as Empire Springs, even though I had originally written it for a band I was in previously.

I was playing bass in a different band at the time, and the singer decided to step away somewhat unexpectedly. We were all still on good terms thankfully, but since the singer was our primary songwriter we didn’t feel right playing his songs anymore. I had recently finished writing a draft of the song that would become "Drawing Lines" and had presented it to the band a few weeks prior to our singers departure. We decided to record a demo of it with me singing, and I remember being so excited at hearing it all come together. It was the first song I had written that I felt proud of, and it inspired me to keep writing songs.

As the lineup of the band changed and we grew as musicians, the song inevitably changed with us. Once we were writing our album The Luminescence and it came time to pick and single, it only felt right to choose ‘Drawing Lines.’ It was the song that gave us direction in the beginning, and the song that helped me find my voice as a songwriter.

Lyrically, the song deals with the concept of letting go. It’s something that is so difficult for me, and I think that most people can relate to that. Without getting too specific, the song was my attempt to capture the process of realizing how disconnected I was with a part of my life that I used to hold so closely. I really value consistency, so I tend to cling to things longer than I should just because of the discomfort change can bring.

I have found that giving myself permission to change is hard, but once I make that first step of acceptance it all gets easier. Life is transient, so change can be a really good thing, and I hope that "Drawing Lines" can be a testament to that idea.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here