Singled Out: June Body's Take Our Time Back

Halifax alt-rock trio June Body are gearing up to release their new album, "Last Everythings" on June 7th, and to celebrate we asked Connor to tell us about the latest single "Take Our Time Back". Here is the story:

Some people say that musical instruments have songs living inside of them, waiting to be discovered. When I turned 21, I decided to spend literally every penny I had to see as much of Europe as I could. But not having access to a guitar while traveling was weighing on me by the time I got to Germany. At a flea market outside of Berlin, I bought a Hofner classical guitar for something like 50 euro. It didn't come with a case, so I lugged it around for the remainder of the trip. I remember hearing it making sounds in the overhead luggage compartments of buses and trains as it bounced around. I think I had originally planned on selling the guitar at the end of the trip, but it felt like I had adopted a child. We had been through so much together. So I bought a case and sent it home with me. I had no idea this guitar contained the ten songs that would comprise a June Body album in 2024.

Every song on our new album was written on this guitar, including "Take Our Time Back." The guitar was my companion through the tumultuous ending of a seven-year relationship and subsequent one-year relationship. It served as my comfort and therapy. It has such a warm and soothing sound. I was learning a lot of Elliott Smith songs at the time, many of which are in open D tuning (all the strings tuned to form a D chord when played in open position). Experimenting with this tuning opened up a vast world of instrumental inspiration. Songs started pouring out of me, and all of them were forming the snowglobe that contains the story on our new album, Last Everythings (June 7, 2024).

"Take Our Time Back" is a confession of being unprepared to fall in love again. I found myself so deep into a relationship that I wasn't ready to be in from the start. The song is about the guilt that came from having to tell them that. "Flipping through my phone, pressing the trash can on our old photos. Empty my bin of guilt." There's another line in this song, "Omens of death: the owl looked this way" that references this strange string of experiences I have had throughout my life in which I encounter actual owls or pictures of owls, and then a literal death, or an ending in some form follows shortly after. I remember being on a camping trip with my ex-partner, and spotting an owl in the trees. Suddenly its head spun fully around, in classic owl fashion, and it stared at me with an ominous ferocity. Later that week, I remember being at her apartment, giving her a hug, and as my head was resting on her shoulder I looked up to see that her animal-themed calendar had flipped into an image of an owl-staring right at me. It was as if my experiences with this omen made the inevitable clearer to me.

We recorded "Take Our Time Back," and all the songs on Last Everythings, at our drummer's ancient family cottage along the ocean in Nova Scotia. We moved in for a week, set up our own studio, and slept surrounded by all of our gear. I made sure to check for owl imagery on the walls. There was none. To me, the final realization of the song contains so much hopefulness. Hearing it now, it's an exploration of nostalgia; a learning experience. I hope anyone can find a way to apply the song's sentiment to their own lives. When we play it live, and we hit that first chorus, so many people crack little smiles and start moving. It's heartwarming to see people feeling the music, and deriving their own meaning from my experience. Thanks for listening.

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

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