Garrett Anthony Rice returns with “Standing in a Robe,” a new single from his forthcoming double album Equinox, where the moment after a departure carries more weight than the departure itself. This is a song that finds Rice operating in a field that fans of more mellow moments of classic rock and Britpop will find comfortable, a place where the mood is as important as the words being sung. It’s a departure song that only concerns itself with the moment after a person has decided to leave, never mind what led them to make that choice.

The arrangement moves at a patient mid-tempo, one centred on the spacious quality that has become so much a part of Rice’s work. There is a steady sixteenth-note pulse lurking beneath the surface, which provides the motion for this song while also leaving space in the instrumentation for a story to emerge. The opening has a warmth reminiscent of acoustic classic rock, a subtle space that is often more interested in letting a melody shine than in grabbing attention.

The song portrays a very simple image, yet somehow very cinematic in its effect. One person has moved on, leaving the other behind in the doorway, quite literally standing in a robe as the reality of the moment settles in. It is an image that carries a layered history. The robe, long associated with power, excess, and the theatrical authority of emperors and tyrants, figures like Nero draped in spectacle, appears here stripped of all ceremony, reduced to something private and unguarded. That contrast quietly reframes the scene. What once signaled control now marks a loss of it. Rice avoids any sort of melodrama, instead staying firmly in this moment and allowing the details of the room to speak for themselves.

As another in the ongoing series of singles leading up to the upcoming album Equinox, “Standing in a Robe” extends the emotional scope of the project. While previous songs had suggested the presence of myth, danger, and darker storylines, “Standing in a Robe” is a return to the everyday. It is a contemplation of the space between people, where the feeling of distance comes not with drama, but with the gradual recognition that someone is walking away.