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It might feel like a long time coming, but Hot Milk always knew that when the time came to make their debut album, A CALL TO THE VOID, they had to be ready for it. Set for release on August 25, the upcoming body of work will be their loudest statement yet of who they are and what they stand for – an opportunity to show the world what they are made of.

The UK-based band, comprised of singer/guitarists Jim Shaw and Hannah “Han” Mee, has blossomed over the course of three stellar self-produced EPs. This constant stream of releases has meant that they were never away from the spotlight – or the stages they call home. Their accelerating rise has now taken them to stadium support slots with Foo Fighters, the main stages of some of the best festivals globally, an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, tours with bands like Pale Waves, sold out headlining shows, and over 50 million streams of their EPs alone. Crucially, however, they gave themselves space to find themselves as artists.

The band recorded the album between Manchester, Los Angeles, and Stockholm, with the band's very own Jim Shaw at the producing helm for most of the record, much like all previous releases – an element that has become so important to the band, allowing them to control exactly who they want to be as artists.

Tracks on their debut album walk a tightrope between the humorous and the serious, brimming with what might be called “positive nihilism.” They’re not so much finding the light in the dark as they are laughing. Because if they don’t, they’ll cry. However, the most important thing for the band is that these songs are written to scream from the stage speakers and for their refrains to be screamed back at by the adoring, tight-knit community they’ve built.

The Noise had the chance to sit down and chat with the dynamic duo and further dive into the album’s meaning, their favorite music moments, and how the art of making an album isn’t dead.

Your upcoming album, A CALL TO THE VOID, will release soon! How does it feel knowing that in just a couple weeks, people worldwide will potentially be listening to a body of work you've put much time and care into?

Jim Shaw: I'm excited. Like, it's definitely – everyone always says it's our best work to date. It embodies what Hot Milk is right now and everything we've refined through the past and is the top tier. What do you think, Han? 

Han Mee: It's definitely the best we've ever written, which it should be. But it's weird to think that we started writing for this band when we were in our early 20s, and now we're not in our 20s anymore. So it's like, it feels like so long. Like, it's taken so long to get here, there's been a lot of hurdles to jump over, you know, be it stupid record deals and all this internal turmoil that goes with being in a band like you don't think about when you're little, and you're like, oh, I want to be in a band like you don't think about all the shit that comes with it.

JS: Yeah, all the financial implications and things.

HM: And to be able to be putting out music and, you know, trying to do this job is insane. We're incredibly lucky, but I feel privileged to put stuff we've written in a bedroom out into the world. And it's a really good record, and that's something that I never really say about our music because I don't like a lot of what we've done in the past. But this is a really good record.

What about this record makes it so special and so integral to who Hot Milk is at this point?

HM: Sonically, there's stuff on there that no one has done before. Like, we're putting out stuff that pushes us musically above the shallow ends and the safety of what a lot of other bands do. And that's what we always wanted to do. We want to keep people on their toes, and we want to live a bit dangerously. So we're doing stuff that's risky and important to do.

JS: I also think it's super reactive as well. Like, when we've written previous stuff, it's even a year old by the time it's released. Whereas this we finished in January. So it's still super fresh for us. Like we only know how to play a few live. So it's been fun, like, exploring that and working out how they fit in the current set and, you know, making a new set around these new songs and using that as a focus. 

HM: They're definitely more grown up, and it feels like more like we're, you know, a band of grown-up bands playing grown-up songs. You know what I mean? That's the thing, you've got to have your songs; they've got to grow up with you. And I'm like, not getting any younger, I want to be able to fit, like, it needs to be bigger songs. You know what I mean? It needs to be songs that, you know, you can play well into your 50s and 60s, which is what I want to do me. I want to play live as an old lady, and I feel these are the kinds of songs we can play. 

Can you share some of your influences that went into the record at this time?

HM: There's a lot of synths. We've always used synths, and we're one of the first bands of rock music and modern-day rock music, you know, consistently use synthesizers. And we've always had that as part of our music because we love dance music, house, and techno. So there was that significant influence, and there's just a lot of emotion. There's a lot of real realness in it. And I didn't feel like I wasn't trying to do anything when we were writing the lyrics. It was more like me writing the songs because I wanted to and needed to. And so, in that essence, that is so normal and natural and then just raw. There was like no tryhard element of this. It was more just like it came to us.

JS: It all did, like what--it was the massive mountain at the beginning. Like we didn't understand, we were a bit over-faced by it. We just finished touring for about three months, and the record label and management were like, "Right, you need to start writing this album now. It needs to go," and we were just kind of like so just fucking exhausted.

Hannah: We'd already done the hard lifting with the singles and gave them those.

That can be a lot of pressure to force something to be good. And when that happens, it can get really messy quickly. With y'all being a duo, I imagine you can lean on each other during those tough pressure moments. How do you deal with the stress and pressure of making an album whenever it's crunch time?

HM: I don't, haha. We probably argue more than any band ever.

JS: haha, so much.

HM: But it's all love, ain't it, Jim?

JS: Yeah. It's because we both want to get it where it's the best thing we can possibly get. I don't know. I feel like the fights and the arguments pull the rawest and the best thing out of each other.

HM: When you've known each other for so long like me and Jim have, and we've known each other deeply. Like, we argue like siblings, and I think a lot of people get a bit like, "What the fuck, mate. The way that they communicate is really weird." But it is quite aggressive, I guess. It's like, "Stop it. That's fucking shit." You know what I mean? But we'll do the same thing to each other because we want to get to the same point quicker. There are no pleasantries. It's not like, "that's great, but change that lyric." It's like, "Nah, that's shit, mate. Next. What else ya got," you know? We argue. But every song, you know, is an argument with us. And I think that's just how we are.

You're both each other's biggest supporter and biggest pusher.

JS: Yeah, 100%. I know we've always got each other's back.

HM: I'd die for you, you know what I mean? But I also hate you sometimes.

Tell me about the meaning of the album’s title, A Call To The Void. Is there a deeper meaning to it that kind of bleeds throughout the rest of the record? Is there an overall theme that you're trying to get at, or is it just not that deep, and I'm overanalyzing it?

HM: I mean, everything we do is very deep and dramatic all the time. Like, all of life is just a meaning. Like, that means that, and that means that. We named the album last, which is interesting because I think it's funny because I've already named the second album, and we've not written a song for it yet. It's like a very strange way of going about things. But A Call To The Void ended up encapsulating the whole general feeling of the record. It wasn't a concept record, but it was just kind of a snapshot in time of everything that we were kind of thinking, going through, and feeling. There's a lot of loneliness on the record, a lot of kinds of feelings of desperation, lots of sad things, but then also lots of, like, kind of nihilistic tendencies of like, “Fuck it. Everything's shit. Let's just fucking go out and have a good time.” I think for me, I like the French translation, “l'appel de vide,” which is like means a call to the void. It's that feeling of being on a precipice, and you want to jump and your brains telling you, you should, but you know, you shouldn't because it's really dangerous.

JS: That meaning is almost a metaphor for where we are right now. Where we've literally, we've given so much, and we can't really pull out now. So it's like Do or Die. So it's that call of, like, jump over the edge.

HM: Yeah, I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to songs and meanings and everything in my life, and quite a deep kind of spiritual person, I guess. So everything has to mean something.

JS: It's hard when you've got songs with such, like, kind of emotion, be it, you know, loneliness, be it anger, be it happiness, whatever. You've got to have some sort of base to tie it to like that. If you start just writing about bullshit, the music and the melody are quite emotive, it just kind of negates all that emotion if the if it's you can't tie it lyrically.

HM: I feel like there are a lot of rock acts or whatever pop acts at the minute just shoveling the old shite out, and it doesn't mean anything. Then it's completely undermining the whole notion of writing songs. And don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for fun songs because we do have some of those on the record. But I just think there's a little bit of reality missing a minute, a little bit of honesty and authenticity. And that's the only thing I really want to come across. They’re real songs because we had to write them. It's not because we were trying to write a fucking hit, it's because we were like, We need to write the songs for our own mental state and our own fucking heads, you know, I mean, if we don't write them, then we might die. You know?

Is there an unreleased song at this point that you’re excited for people to listen to?

HM: I love every single one of them. I have like an order in my head of the order in which I like them, which changes quite often. But I mean, I'm excited for “Breathing Underwater,” which I think comes next because I think musically, that's when we've really taken a step up. And I think people are gonna go, “Oh, hang on, Hot Milk, oh. I see what you're doing fucking hell,” you know, I mean, it might hit me on the face a little bit. And hit them in the hearts a bit in a big way. Because I mean, every time I listen to it, I fuckin cry, yeah, I mean, so that must mean something. It must mean something. But what about you, Jim? You like “Migraine,” don't you?

JS: Yeah, “Migraine” is my kind of favorite one. I think it's the most ambitious sonically and structurally that we've ever done and kind of steering away from the stereotypical kind of reverse chorus, you know, kind of structure and just kind of exploring soundscapes and kind of, I mean that the song is a migraine, the whole thing is a bit of a headache. It was quite hard to finish because there was just so much going on, and it was hard to tie it all together. But I think it's dead fun and changes up so much throughout the song. I think it's really fun.

HM: It's a bit different. It's a weird change of pace and the record. The record kind of--we wrote the whole thing with it like a journey in mind, and it all ebbs and flows through, and it's got interludes as part of it. It is meant to be listened to as a piece rather than singles like we wanted it to be the art form of an album. People say, " Oh, albums are dead,” or whatever. I'm like, well, I don't give a shit. If albums are dead, then fuck it, I'll do something that's dying.

JS: Yeah, some of our favorite albums of all time are things that you should be listening to as a whole piece rather than snippets.

HM: Yeah, for sure. Don't get me wrong, the singles stand on their own. But I think it's supposed to be listened to front to back, which is how we listen and still do listen to music.

Right, there’s a story to be told.

HM: yeah, some of the best songs on this record aren't the singles. So, go listen to the whole thing, and you’ll find some of the gems hidden in there.

That’s the headline of this article. “Hot Milk Wants You To Listen To The Whole Album.”

HM: Haha yeah, absolutely, that's the title. Listen to the whole fucking thing!

Jim, you mentioned that “Migraine” was quite hard to finish. Whenever the two of you encounter writer’s block or get stuck creatively, how do you work around that? Is there something that has always worked for you? Or is it just like a constantly evolving process of writing and creating?

JS: It goes back to what Han said about not forcing anything. If you're forcing it, it’s wrong, and it shouldn't be there, and you should take time off and move on to the next thing and come back to it. I feel like we did try a while ago in our kind of like infancy of the band and songwriting, we were just kind of like, let's just put this in because it's got a hole there. Whereas now we're so much more in tune, this just doesn't feel right. So I don't know. I feel like we do--like we go to different places. I feel like the biggest thing that made it so difficult through COVID, like, no one was experiencing anything. Everyone was just kind of like in this void of nothingness. So it just sucks all the creativity away because you're not, you know, living, you're not learning, you're not growing. So I feel like being able to go and tour and go to these new places or even just go and meet new people and have new experiences, all of that, you kind of soak up. I don't know, you can kind of rejuvenate your creative juices, so I feel like that's that important for us because I felt stagnant when I was just stuck at home.

HM: Yeah, you're not used to being at home. I don't think of any of us at this point. We don't know what to do. This is why I think between tour and now, when we get home, I'm lost I feel like, you know, your schedules kind of just disappeared, and because you become used to having the same day, over and over again, with the same people and then you come home, and it's like, oh, I'm on my own. This is weird. We're happiest when we're touring. I think we write songs to tour ultimately. We're a live band, first and foremost, really. I think that's, that's where our wealth is, and that's what is our church really. Live shows are our church.

I believe it. Concerts do feel like a religious experience for so many people.

HM: With our lack of religion in our real lives, this has become who we are. It does get in your skin, especially rock music, when you're a young kid, like it becomes who you are becomes your identity. So much to our parents' disagreement, unfortunately, we're still not growing up. But fuck it. You got to go for what you want to do in life.

Those are good words to live by for sure. How do you prepare for your live shows? Do you have a routine or ritual that you like to do together or separately?

JS: I used to struggle with that so much. I used to fucking hate it cause--so, for example, when we got the amazing opportunity to support the Foo Fighters. That’s something that doesn't happen to many bands, and looking back, the shows were incredible, but right then and there, I was so stressed with everything else happening around me. Like making sure my family was getting in, making sure the gears were right, making sure like this, that, and the other that I wasn't focusing on, the main and the important thing, which was just the show. And that was something like going back to the C word when we were stuck at home; I vowed that I was going to enjoy every show, I was going to make the most of it and try and take it in rather than rush through and not focus on just enjoying the moment because it can be gone. It can go so easily. So I don't know, I feel like we've got a good kind of routine where we try and just push everyone else away a half an hour at least before the show and just kind of be with each other and kind of just feed off each other's energy like put some tunes on have some drinks, jump around. Get excited.

HM: Yeah, we just need to come together. We worked out that we would play better when we all had a little moment together before the show and were on the same page. We'll break by feeling each other because you've got to play in the same rhythm and you've got to be on the same wavelength, and that's something we didn't do because you were running about or I was running away, and I was at a bar, and we were like, Oh God, where is everybody? But now I think we take a little bit more time just to look each other in the eyeballs and be like, right, come on then, let’s go on and do a gig. I mean, that's where I feel like I am--like, that is my best. The thing I'm best at is the performing aspect of shows.

What is your favorite song to perform live right now?

HM: “I Just Wanna Know What Happens When I'm Dead” still because I like the guitar part. The guitar part is fun. But I think “Bloodstream” will be fun to play live. We played that in South America that had a really good crowd reaction despite the fact that it wasn't out yet.

JS: I like “Split Personality.” Yes, I get to come off. I am the opposite. I get to go away from the guitar, run around the stage a little bit, and just kind of let out a bit of steam. I feel like when that song came out for us, it was kind of the heaviest song that we had, and it kind of it really, you can see people looking like, oh my god, fuck, like, this is intense.

HM: It's where we feel most comfortable, in that heavier realm for sure and I think the next record will be much heavier than anything we've put out.

What is your favorite lyric that you've written on the record? Or is there just a music moment that you're just like, wow, I'm incredibly proud of this?

HM: I know immediately, as soon as you said that, what I think we both will say.

JS: what's that? 

HM: The key change on “Breathing Under Water.”

JS: Yeah, the key change was like, for us, we went through, like, we will have this song needs a key change. It's such an emotive song and such a like..

HM: Yeah, it needed to change gear and go up one more. We couldn't work out how to get there. We did like five iterations to figure out how to change the key. like there are so many different versions now, and we finally got it, and we were like, “Oh, yeah!” and were like, “Yeah, we're fucking musicians!” It was good.

JS: I’m excited about that one and “Forget Me Not.” It’'s the last song on the album, and it was the last song we wrote. I lost my granddad to dementia, and I lost my grandmother the year before, and it was just kind of the first loss-- the first time I've ever dealt with the death of someone I was real close to. I'd dealt with and seen death before, and I've been around death but not someone I'd known. So it was kind of, I guess, sobering and sort of moment. Like you’re kind of growing up and understanding life's fragility. Lyrically, it's just got a lot of personal sentiment to it.

HM: Yeah, I think musically that song is very fresh, and I don't think people will expect that from us because there's not a guitar in it, you know, it's like, just it's full on like Avicci, kind of like bigger house vibes. So it's kind of like, yes, people will be like, what the fuck, but it's authentic.

If you go back to the beginning of Hot Milk and say anything to the version of you that you were at the beginning of your journey, what would you tell them?

HM: I think about her quite often. I think she'd be like, “Oh, my God, you're still poor???” *laughs* I don't know what I'd say to her. I'd say just like, just calm down and don't lose your antidepressants that one time in Paris because that will fuck you up. I don't know. I think it like just, yeah, it'll be okay. Just calm down. She was very worried back then about what was happening around her.

JS: She still is.

HM: I still am, yeah, but I think I’ve just come to terms with the worry a bit more, whereas back then it was more on the surface all the time.

JS: Yeah I think i’d tell myself to try not to fucking stress so much. Ride the wave and just enjoy the little things. I feel like everyone's probably got the same kind of answer. But, like, yeah, don't take anything for granted. Just really get the most out of everything that you do. 

HM: I'd tell her also to save more money, honestly. Put more time into saving your money instead of spending it on going out because it adds up!