The Lost and The Found.
Out from the emo wilderness emerge our friends Hawthorne Heights with a new(ish) album and we find ourselves settling into their wide open, welcoming arms, all warm and squishy and cuddly and wuddly.
It is unmistakeably emo, stylish and unashamedly attractive to old fans and new. Despite past struggles and setbacks this vivacious little number with its catchy pop fuelled energy is quite robust and impassioned, blowing away the cobwebs and rebooting our burnt-out bodies.
The single ‘Hard To Breathe’ is a charmer, utterly breath-taking and with the startling admission of ‘I spent my whole life lying and I just got caught’, well I’m sure we can relate on some level.
A hopeful song in ‘When The Darkness Comes To Light’ with words like ‘I just wanna feel safe, forget all this hate’ and you need to bring it in my friends if you’re listening. It almost feels like a peace treaty, all sides need to listen and respect each other. Actually, the whole record has that feel of unification and bringing an end to all the misery. Singer J T Woodruff has the voice of an angel, soothing, with a screamer upgrade when required.
A sizzler of a cover, amongst several covers, is here with The Ramones ‘Pet Sematary’ containing the same vibe and punk rock perfection, all neatly packaged HH style. We also have Weezer, Bush and Billie Eilish tracks that our friends have turned their hand to, and they’re not to be sniffed at, in fact the Bush cover is quite something.
A pretty decent balance of songs, it’s good to hear these B-sides as they often get overlooked and perched alongside songs recorded by other musicians, they make up the lost frequencies. These songs are the tonic that will lift your mood and also provide the fire on these chilly winter nights.
This is the sound of the lost and found……aaahhh.
Hawthorne Heights – Lost Frequencies out now via Pure Noise Records