Fall From The Light

“The recurring theme on this album is honesty,” MC Suffa, aka Matt Lambert, tells Apple Music. Adds fellow MC Pressure, aka Daniel Smith: “The strength of hindsight and being able to reflect, there’s definitely some elements of wisdom in there as well. Which is part of the journey of getting older.” If it sounds like Hilltop Hoods’ ninth album is the work of an act maturing, it’s probably because it is. “It’s part of the evolutionary journey of going from teenager to a young adult to a middle-aged adult, which is where we’re at now,” considers Pressure. Says Suffa: “I feel like what I’ve got to say carries more weight than what I had to say when I was 20 making beer rap.” That rings true with the lyrical themes of *Fall From the Light*, which cover topics such as mental health (“This Year”); the lure of home after long stretches on the road (“The Moth”); online vitriol (“Get Well Soon”); and those who will Hilltop Hoods to fail and disappear from the scene (the title track). Which isn’t to say *Fall From the Light* is a strictly serious affair. Musically, it adheres to the familiar Hilltop Hoods tropes that have made them a force in Australian hip-hop, from the anthemic sing-along choruses (“Naked,” “Don’t Happy, Be Worry”) to the clever wordplay and extensive use of samples. On that last point, Suffa rediscovered his love of crate digging and sampling while making *Fall From the Light*, incorporating obscure treasures such as “Fujiyama Yei Yei” by ’70s folk-jazz-funk outfit Sarah & Melody into “The Omelette.” Six years on from 2019’s *The Great Expanse*, the trio—completed by DJ Debris, aka Barry Francis—put the album’s lengthy gestation down to the enforced COVID break, and an increased attention to detail. “When you’re younger and making music you’re just like, ‘Yeah, that’s done, put it out,’” says Pressure. “When you get older you realize you’ve got this body of work behind you and the seriousness of it catches up with you. And you start putting a lot more thought in.” Here, Pressure and Suffa take Apple Music through *Fall From the Light*, track by track. **“Fall From the Light” (with Nyassa)** Pressure: “There was a feeling a lot of people wanted us to fall. Some people think they have to clear the way for themselves rather than just rest on their own achievements, laurels, or music.” Suffa: “Often people think for them to have room in the space they need to move others along. ‘Fall From the Light’ is us digging in our heels.” **“Never Coming Home” (with SIX60)** Pressure: “It’s a song about striving for greatness, and going on a journey, particularly in my verse. Not giving up or coming home until you achieve what you set out to.” Suffa: “The SIX60 boys came over a couple of years ago and we wrote three songs with them within the space of two days, and that’s ‘Laced Up,’ ‘Get Well Soon,’ and ‘Never Coming Home.’ We had an instant connection with them creatively.” **“The Gift” (feat. Marlon)** Suffa: “I was really lucky that I had a house of six people, me included, and it was like six individual takes \[on music\]. My mum liked Janis Ian and my dad was blues and jazz; one brother was straight out reggae, ska, Bad Brains; the other one was Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Cure, Happy Mondays; and then the other one was Rush and that sort of thing. I got so much diversity from my family growing up. Being the youngest, I was able to pick and choose between them.” Pressure: “I think everyone can relate to having that impression in your formative young years of hearing all that music, and it triggers memories from your childhood.” **“Get Well Soon” (with SIX60)** Pressure: “It’s about trying to block out the noise of people and social media and the internet. Trying to be you and not worry about what other people think. I wrote my verse like I was speaking to a person, but it’s metaphorically meant to be the greater world.” **“Naked”** Pressure: “Everything is so oversexualized. It was a fine line between trying not to oversexualize everything and just making a commentary about how the world does that.” Suffa: “But I think it’s fair to say if you open Instagram now compared to 10 years ago or whatever—and I’m not a prude—it’s more overtly sexual. It does feel like everyone does want to see everyone naked.” Pressure: “I don’t need a person in a G-string to sell me toothpaste.” **“Rage Against the Fatigue”** Suffa: “Someone asked us, ‘Is this a metaphor?’ No! We’re tired. We sleep badly. That’s what the song’s about. We’re really tired.” Pressure: “We both struggle with sleep. Debris can sleep absolutely everywhere. Except his own bed.” **“The Omelette”** Suffa: “My experience with psychedelics was fucking horrible. That’s why I have the line, ‘First time on acid, I was 15/Last time on acid, I was 15.’” Pressure: “My verse ends after talking about a real-life \[drug\] experience and how awful it was and how I never want to do it again, which is 100 percent true.” Suffa: “At the same time, it’s not an anti-drug song at all.” Pressure: “It’s just a story.” **“Don’t Happy, Be Worry”** Pressure: “We didn’t want to make a politically charged song that was doom and gloom and filled with dread, so we dressed it up with a bit of satire to make it fun.” Suffa: “I think we pulled it off. There were a lot of people upset that their billionaire boy Elon was besmirched. He has a lot of defenders. At the end of the day, we were having a lighthearted look at a very serious situation. ’Cause the world looks like a dark place at the moment.” **“Something Bigger Than This”** Pressure: “The idea for this song came from a conversation I had with mum 15 or 20 years ago when she retired. I asked her if she was happy and she said, ‘Actually, I thought I would have a lot more to show than this.’ I took that conversation and started the song with the line, ‘I was built for something bigger than this,’ which is the anchor for the hook as well. It was a really profound statement that my mum made that stuck with me. I went away and really processed it. It was a realization for me in my twenties that we have limited time and how you want to spend it.” **“This Year”** Suffa: “As soon as I started writing this it just poured out. It was really helpful to put it down and help to understand myself, and help to give a name to what I’d struggled with for most of my life. I also had this sense when I was writing it that I wanted, not exclusively, but in particular, young men to hear something they could identify being described, and have someone talk about it who’s not ashamed or embarrassed and would encourage other people to talk about it as well. Hopefully that can help someone that finds themselves in a similar position.” **“Laced Up”** Pressure: “My verse is not that autobiographical. It’s kind of a twist on a real situation I embellished a little for fun. But the point of the song is, it’s about when we were broke and couldn’t afford to take a girl out to dinner, but could afford to put our best kicks and freshest dip on.” Suffa: “When you’re that age, you don’t have money for things that are important, but you always find money for booze or clothes or kicks or whatever.” **“The Moth” (with Nyassa)** Pressure: “It was written to be an album closer. It’s a song about spending a lot of time on the road, and the years away from home and your loved ones. That’s changed for us over the years as well, from girlfriends to wives to having children. I really like the metaphor of being the moth drawn home to the light, ’cause the idea of getting home to your safe space or your loved ones is like the light at the end of the tunnel when you’ve been on the road for a long time, particularly overseas.”