“I’m not good at taking pictures of the people I love most,” Jeremy Bolm quips on “This Routine.” “We all know they’re always going to be there, and yet we know they’re not.” It’s a clear sign of one of the many spirals referenced in Touché Amore’s sixth studio album, and while it’s less idiosyncratic than before, it’s thematically angry, anxious, and anxious in keeping with recent work. , a record that encapsulates a sonic whirlwind of loss and melancholia. Its sound expands on the melody-driven hardcore edge the band possessed, at times fully incorporating the minimalism of contemporary scene La Dispute or the scuzzy rock of “Subversion” featuring Lou Barlow. I am incorporating it. The change is subtle but notable, and provides a great new backdrop for Jeremy’s anguished candor.
Opener ‘Nobody’s’ proclaims himself to be nobody’s business, while early highlight ‘Hal Ashby’ delivers the album’s most powerful lament. “I’ve done everything I could as a glue,” he resigned on “The Glue,” which combines shoegaze riffs with an understated visceral scream. “I couldn’t see it through,” he concluded. Julian Baker returns with his third album following ‘Goodbye For Now’, bellows ‘I’m on fire’ and underpins much of ‘Spiral in a Straight Line’ It solidified my resignation. But in its final moments, Jeremy offers a ray of light, another nod to the scattered hopes that have established its place in the history of Touche Amore. “I’m trying to get back on my feet.”
