Mya Byrne’s new single “Faultline” brings us to the edge

Mya Byrne’s soulful new single, “Faultline,” tells a story familiar to so many of us queers: our lives are filled with love and warmth, but also feel like they might just collapse at any time. But this song, co-written by Neale Eckstein, is actually about her California home which is — literally — on a faultline.

As Byrne points out, “The song is literal – my home is on a faultline, you can see the crack in our backyard. It shakes all the time.” Fortunately for us, it also inspires a skillful songwriter, makes a handy metaphor, and provides a clever vehicle for double entendre-laced lyrics like, “Nothing much about it’s straight.”

On the track, she and Eckstein are joined by Jagoda, Matt Nakoa, and Craig Akin. The sound is lush and layered, with rootsy, bluesy, wandering guitar riffs accented by a bright mandolin. Listening to the song, you can imagine lazily relaxing and sipping a drink in that house, blissfully unaware of its tenuous relationship with the unsteady ground.

Neale also created an animated video featuring line drawings of the house. Give it a watch, and make sure to keep track of where the cats are hiding!