When Maxmilian Flint moved back to Halifax after spending years in New Zealand, his return wasn’t quite the homecoming he had imagined. More than the city itself, Flint found that the years away had changed him and his perspective of “home” took on a mercurial nature; his arrival back in Halifax proved to him that life itself is a journey.
“East of the East” is Flint’s new single about that journey and where our concept of “home” fits within it.
“East of the East” leans heavily into the poetic. The verses are spartan but pointed. It makes a big nod to the archetypal journey of Tolkien’s “The Road Goes Ever On.” This, for better or worse, is the great adventure.
“This was one of those songs that pops out all fully formed,” explains Flint. “I had been living abroad for several years and was in my first year back in Halifax. I was feeling the gravity here and how different it feels to be in a place vs on your way to a place.
“When I was away, it always felt a little further east,” laughs Flint. “But once I got here, even though I felt settled, the road still continued away. Home wasn’t a static place, hence ‘East of the East’.
“I think in the context of that, it wasn’t Halifax that had changed so much as myself in a very short period of time, but I think it’s a universal thing. The ‘journey’ continues each time you reach a new goal, whether that’s to return home or to release a song you’re proud of.”
Despite a fair amount of his family having followed him to New Zealand and remaining there, Flint felt drawn back to where he had grown up along Nova Scotia’s Southshore.
“That landscape has a way of sticking with you. It’s definitely where I feel most like I could write and produce the work that I want to write and produce in my lifetime,” says Flints.
Flint notes that some darker undertones do get woven through the song’s scant narrative, but just the barest of threads tying it to the larger tapestry of his upcoming album. “East of the East,” along with many of the songs set to appear on the album being released this time next year, was written shortly after his return from New Zealand and features the skillful playing of Tom Easley, Matt Gallant, and Liam Britten bringing structure to the journey.
“They really made the song,” says Flint. “I think the solo and the end also sort of takes over where the lyrics end, completing the journey of the song but taking you somewhere you haven’t been yet. The bass solo provides some feeling of comfort or return to the first part of the song, furthering that juxtaposition of being on the journey even when you’re home.”
And, for a song that’s so dependent on the vibe, those are crucial roles. It strikes a balance, with Flint’s vocals offering something of a highlight that punctuates the somber tone of “East of the East,” dissolving in the brief flight of that guitar solo taking off about two-thirds of the way through and closing out on Easley’s bass. While still purely conjecture, they’ve set up a certain expectation that Flint’s EP might yet prove to be a magnum opus and concept album.
We’ll get the chance to find out on May 22, 2021, when Maximilian Flint will be performing “East of the East” along with several more songs from the album as part of a livestream. More details to come.