IMC Listening guide

Best weather to enjoy this song

Sunny day

Best time to listen

Sunrise awakening

Best place to listen

Out in nature

Does this song haunt the silence?

Melody lingers

Goosebumps scale

Chills guaranteed

Our thoughts

Ever since we first introduced you to Rod Coote back in 2022, we’ve been telling you to keep an eye on this Australian artist. Three years later, here he is releasing tracks produced by... Hayden Calnin. No, this isn’t an April Fools’ joke. And anyway, isn’t it a little late for that?

Taken from his new EP Half Moon Bay, released on May 9, “The End” plays with contrasts right from the title. The song talks about endings, yet it opens the EP. It tells the story of a new beginning for Rod, the moment he moved to the south coast of Australia.

With its unmistakably folk sound, driven by steady banjo and honest, confident vocals, “The End” is the kind of song that fits perfectly with those moments of doubt. And the “ooh oohs” will echo in your head for days, without asking permission to leave.

It’s a bit like the IMC Family: once artists join, after five features, they usually don’t want to leave. That often leads to beautiful collaborations (you'll see later this week). And since “The End” marks Rod Coote’s fifth feature on IMC, we’re officially welcoming him into the IMC Family!

Rod Coote's take on "The End"

This song is paradoxically the beginning of the EP and explores the notion that closing one chapter also allows space for the beginning of a new season. This was inspired by my move to the southern coastline of Australia and letting go of a life I once knew. 'The End' is the beginning of this chapter. I think we all experience moments when we feel like a lost cause, and things feel like the end of the world. This song offers a new perspective that the ending of a chapter can also invite a new season to begin.

A bit more about Rod Coote

Rod Coote is an Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. He grew up in a quiet town in New South Wales, where he started writing music as a teenager inspired by artists like Ben Howard, Noah Kahan and Hollow Coves. Over the years, he built his audience through busking, regular releases and touring across Australia, Europe and the UK. He’s opened for acts such as Ziggy Alberts, Kim Churchill and The Dreggs. His two latest EPs, produced by Garrett Kato and Tim Hart, mark a new chapter shaped by his move from the countryside to the coast. And his very last one has been produced by... Hayden Calnin.

Reach out to Rod Coote

Lyrics

Reborn, by the southern sea, 
Into love, into peace, humility and harmony
Grow, water this seed
Soon we’ll be grey & old, slowly fading under this oak tree
How long could we pretend
Is this the end 
Dusk, at half moon bay
Will the light ever come if night takes it all away,
We’ll lie here, with tides between our feet
We can lose our soul, but we can never really lose our dreams
How long could we pretend
Is this the end 
How long could we pretend 
Is this the end

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