Touché Amoré - Spiral In A Straight Line (Album Review)
Monday, 21 October 2024
Written by Jack McGill
Photo: Sean Stout
You can feel the emotion that roars from Jeremy Bolm’s voice in your bones and to know anything about Touché Amoré’s music is to know that their frontman should have been broken a long time ago. The California hardcore band’s previous two records dealt with the gravitational pull of grief following the death of his mother, finding catharsis but not necessarily a way out. Now, ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ maps the way to exit.
Opener Nobody’s introduces the idea that moving forward isn’t always a linear process. The states the album navigates make more sense as part of grief’s larger whole — Hal Ashby is beautifully melodic but also apparently an exercise in doublethink, while Force Of Habit resides in a depressing limbo created by routine.
By way of contrast, Mezzanine plunges into instant chaos, with ferocious drums working tirelessly to match Bolm’s merciless lyrical speed.
To close, the track comes to a screeching halt with the realisation, “We’re tangled up and it’s not easy. We’re spun around while unravelling.”
It may depict the idea of losing control, almost destroying yourself in the process, but the suggestion is that sometimes that’s the only solution.
Subversion slows things down for the first time and, as you catch the little breath available, the sorrow behind it could almost suck the colour from your surroundings. Goodbye For Now plays out as returning guest Julien Baker harmonises with Bolm, her ethereal voice and his brutish delivery creating a wonderful juxtaposition. Nothing is allowed to settle into an easy answer as Bolm wonders if grief is just rebuilding, or is it a new form of existence altogether?
Touche Amore Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Thu February 20 2025 - SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms Southampton
Fri February 21 2025 - CARDIFF Globe
Sat February 22 2025 - BIRMINGHAM Asylum
Sun February 23 2025 - BRISTOL THE FLEECE
Tue February 25 2025 - DUBLIN Whelans
Wed February 26 2025 - BELFAST Limelight
Thu February 27 2025 - GLASGOW St Luke's
Fri February 28 2025 - LEEDS Project House
Sat March 01 2025 - MANCHESTER Gorilla
Sun March 02 2025 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Tue March 04 2025 - BRIGHTON Chalk
Wed March 05 2025 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
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