Touché Amoré - Spiral in a Straight Line

“I’m bad at taking photos of the people I love the most,” rasps Jeremy Bolm on ‘This Routine’, “I just think they’ll always be there, when we all know that they won’t.” It’s a telltale sign of one of the many spirals referenced in Touché Amoré’s sixth studio album, a record that encapsulates a sonic whirlwind of anger, angst, loss and melancholia thematically in keeping with their recent output, although less singular than before. Its sound stretches the edges of the melody-driven hardcore the band have owned, at times fully embracing the minimalism of scene contemporaries La Dispute or the scuzzy rock of the Lou Barlow-featuring ‘Subversion’. The shifts are subtle but notable, providing another brilliant backdrop for Jeremy’s largely pained candour.

Opener ‘Nobody’s’ sets the tone as he declares himself nobody’s business, while early highlight ‘Hal Ashby’ delivers the album’s most powerful lament. “I’ve done what I can do be the glue,” he resigns on ‘The Glue’, pairing shoegaze riffs with understated visceral screams. “I couldn’t see it through,” he concludes. “We caught fire”, snarls Julien Baker, as she returns for the third album running on closer ‘Goodbye For Now’, cementing the resignation that underpins much of ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’. Yet in its final moments, Jeremy offers a glimmer of light, another nod to the scattered hope that has founds its place throughout Touché Amoré’s history: “I’ll try to come around.”