A couple of years ago we became big fans of a band called Eulogies, their self-titled album received a lot of play time and in Life Boat they had one of our favourite tracks of the year. They’ve been quiet for a while, and so we were delighted to hear of a new album, Tear The Fences Down and to get a taster in the form of advance track You Hide.

Then we read of the story behind the album and it is one of those times when it brings a lump to the throat and despite not knowing the band through anything other than their music, you wish you could do something a bit more worthwhile than just put their songs out there for download.

We don’t often paraphrase press-releases, but on this occasion…

Tear The Fences Down is a collection of songs Peter Walker wrote with his little friend Pablo Castelaz burning in his heart – and what happened to his parents and his big brother when he left this world too soon. Tear The Fences Down is being released January 18th on Dangerbird Records.

“The future would never be the same. my role as a friend, as a father, my love for my son, would never be the same. the innocence was shattered.

After what happened in July of 2009 my emotions–my heart–my life–were all blown to smithereens.

Thirteen months earlier, in May of 2008 I experienced the ultimate high of my life when my son was born. Instantly everything was noticeably richer. Music that I had listened to hundreds of times suddenly had more depth and layers to it than ever before. My life was full of a deep love I had never dreamed of.

Just 7 days later, I got a call from my best friend and business partner, my brother from another mother, that his 4-year-old son was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I felt the floor drop out from under me. talk about the universe speaking. There is no more poignant example of yin and yang in one’s life than this.

This is what it all boils down to: I was bedside as this little boy took his last breath. I was there to hold his father as he wept uncontrollably in his son’s room moments later.

It took months to untangle my insides to the point that I could sit down with a pencil and a guitar and confront what I had been through, but when I did I began to see the light again after more than a year of deep-rooted torment. These songs became my lifeline. This is a diary of the trauma of war, and ultimately a way out of those horrific depths.

The fact that my band is called Eulogies has nothing to do with death, other than I think it would be a living hell if I couldn’t speak the truth. but in this case, it has to be the universe speaking again. All I’ve been through, all I’ve built, and all I’ve lost, it’s all right here on this record” — Peter Walker

Visit their MySpace here. Buy the record when it is released.

Download Eulogies – You Hide mp3 (from Tear The Fences Down)