Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate

For anyone thinking that for their ‘final’ record, Say Anything would lose any of their poetic potency, that’s certainly not a cause for concern. With their eighth full-length - and what frontman Max Bemis has called the last album of their ‘first era’ - the band yet again manage to navigate the realms of pointedly apt social commentary with a razor sharp wit. A prequel of sorts to their infamous ‘…Is A Real Boy’, the album itself is a more intimate journey - and not just because of Max’s own self-reflection - flecked with tales of weakness and failure, beauty and humour. A profoundly human listen, which sees the band bow out proudly, for now at least.