At the start of Free Throw’s third full-length album, What’s Past Is Prologue, it sounds like it could be a breakup record, which wouldn’t be entirely shocking for a band whose made some serious waves in a genre practically built upon the subject matter. It’s not until the third track, ‘The Corner’s Dilemma,’ that we start to get the bigger picture; that this is a record not about the hangups and minutiae of a failed relationship with a significant other, but more so one with yourself. It’s about self-reflection, even when rock bottom is what’s staring back at you.
The 12 tracks that make up What’s Past Is Prologue –– out March 29, 2019 on Triple Crown Records –– detail the continuing mental health struggles of lead singer and guitarist Cory Castro, and serve as a complete story of what happens when you decide that everything in your life needs to change.
Over the course of Free Throw’s discography, including 2017’s Bear Your Mind, Cory’s struggles with mental health and body image have been on full display, but behind the scenes, he was never fully healing or processing any of it; just writing, recording, touring, partying, repeat. It wasn’t until he hit his personal rock bottom in late 2017 that he finally asked his brother, bassist Justin Castro, for help.
“This new album is very much about that time in my life, and the process I took over the last year building myself back up,” Cory explains. “With the last album, I was trying to talk about my mental health struggles but at the time, I was actually going through it. It felt like I was yelling from the void. This time I’m looking back into the void, and I’m finally able to understand what was really going on.”
What’s Past Is Prologue marks a transformative shift for the band sonically, as well. While Cory digs deep and churns out some of the strongest lyrics of his young career, the rest of the band –– including his brother Justin, Lawrence Warner (guitar), Jake Hughes (guitar), and Kevin Garcia(drums) –– create the big, sweeping moments and intense atmosphere this kind of record begs for.
While each entirely different in style and tone, songs like ‘Stay Out Of The Basement,’ ‘Today Is Especially Delicious‘ and ‘Cerulean City‘ show off exactly what makes a record like this so instantly memorable. Together, they serve as a major turning point for the Nashville band; for the first time, Free Throw has arrived at this place where it feels like it’s all finally coming together, and maybe this is only just the beginning.