The Sound Of The Rain
This year has just gone into ‘can’t contain my excitement mode’ for me as I listen gleefully to the new Hawthorne Heights album. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of stunning releases but this one I didn’t know was in the offing. An extremely pleasant surprise that doesn’t fail to impress. Singer J T Woodruff – minus the exquisitely floppy fringe- uses his experience as the main ingredient in these songs, a lifetime of turmoil and anxiety has created a body of work that is honest, relatable and provides a safe space to unload our own baggage.
My friends, before the pandemic hit us in the parts we didn’t even know existed, many of us already had troubled lives, for whatever reason. The beauty and commendable quality of this record is that it was written and recorded before we all went headfirst into several lockdowns. What this shows is that the suffering was present, tangible and oppressive, the pandemic just heightened the misery life had dealt us and added several generous ladlefuls on top. We open this adventure with ‘Constant Dread’ and a guest appearance from our friend Brendan Murphy of Counterparts, a thoughtful number that sets the tone for the album. The title track skips merrily along, in a typical emo friendly fashion, just grab hold of that mic and don’t let go. Sitting here ‘Tired And Alone’ and contemplating the ‘Thunder In Our Hearts’ unleash your inner artist and ‘Spray Paint It Black’. It’s the classic HH sound we all know and love, and find comfort in.
What we have is an assimilation and a gathering of feelings and emotions that we have been cradling and enduring for what seems like an eternity, it is time to express and release them into the ether and be rid of the toxicity. There is a chance to cleanse with the ‘we are, we are’ chant in ‘Dull Headlights’ as we fear we can’t carry this weight anymore.
With ‘Palm Canyon Drive’ taking us faultlessly into ‘Bambarra Beach’ let yourself breathe in the irresistible breakdowns and neat little riffs and choruses that are the precious attributes that define these songs. I’m forever impressed by the swift vocal changes between the metalcore style growls and emo lusciousness, always well timed and well-placed.
Hawthorne Heights are here to stay so don’t let your courage slip away – you can always stand under their umbrella.
Hawthorne Heights – The Rain Just Follows Me out now via Pure Noise Records
The Rain Just Follows Me
When the rain just follows me
It’s the constant dread
Not just the thunder in my heart
But the roaring in my head,
Coursing through every pore, crushing the bone,
Bruising my core,
Reminding me that I’m all alone
And tired and screaming
At my demons,
If I banish them to the holy coast
will they return when I need them the most?
Will angels not sit upon,
These burdened shoulders?
And take the weight I hold,
Relations failing, a cruelty too far
I can’t turn this lead into gold.
As I sink into the dull headlights
Reaching from Bambarra beach to Palm Canyon Drive,
No struggle, no strive to stay alive
Peeking from beneath this seafoam,
So near and yet so far from home.
Surely the words can’t hurt
If I spray paint it black
Wait for the comeback,
Under a cloud, under the hawthorn tree
Dropping from a height because I don’t like being me.
Tuning into Niki but my FM isn’t working
Absorbing all the lost frequencies to stop my body jerking.
These radio waves where the noise is white
A static that’s indifferent
Where the silence is golden and black is the night
And cowardly is your insistence.
I kept a silver bullet, safe for your harm only.
A discharge meant if only you were lonely.
To late for saying sorry
I’m saved by the keepers of the sad,
Offering a sustenance, a stability I never had.
I’m tasting raindrops from the sky
Watching the blue burn orange
And dreaming of past Decembers,
When settling in the embers
The pens and needles of our fragile future
When somewhere in between
I’ll finish the sentence
Breathing in sequence
But it’s getting hard to breathe,
I can’t even move to Ohio as there is no love for me.
Azra Pathan
For Hawthorne Heights