2023 has become the year which feels like we’re taken back in time and emo, alt, and pop punk are all the rage again. With so many bands making a much anticipated return, it’s certainly a battlefield to stand out. With You Me At Six dropping their 8th Studio album, theres a lot to dive into.
Truth Decay opens with an incredibly punchy track, Deep Cuts. From the get go this track is fast paced and loud, instantly grabbing your attention. With an infectious guitar riff featured throughout, it’s one of the stronger tracks of the album.
The common theme with Truth Decay is heavy in self depreciation and a little bit of just feeling sorry for yourself. It’s a great soundtrack to just get the anger, frustration and rage out, but at times the lyrics can feel a little cringy.
One thing that does sound out on the album is some tracks giving a massive throwback to the stronger times of You Me At Six in their early days. Mixed Emotions (I Didn’t Know How to Tell You What I Was Going Through) is a prime example of this.
With a title long enough to compete with the likes of Fall Out Boy, it’s one of the best tracks on the album. It completely feels like You Me At Six’s distinct old school sound. It’s a banger to dance and sing along to that shows off Josh Franceschi’s soft and comforting vocals, mixed in with some angrier moments. The harmonies throughout work perfectly with this being one of the slower and more heartfelt moments of the album.
A lot of this album really feels put together with festival season in mind. Although not all tracks are strong, they’re ones that will work well with big crowds to get a real buzz going. After Love In The After Hours is one that gives off this vibe, there’s lots of moments for the instrumentals to really shine through and to have breakdowns for the crowd to get going.
God Bless The 90’s Kids is a track that really leans into the pop punk sound, theres a lot of guitar riffs that have you guessing if you’re listening to someone like Sum 41 or Blink 182, but still feels fun. Even with the cringe moments in the lyrics, its still a pretty good banger.
No Future? Yeah Right features a great collaboration with Rou Reynolds, as one of the singles building up to the release, it’s absolutely worth the hype. Combining Josh and Rou’s vocals feels a match made in heaven.
Other album highlights come from heartLESS; it’s one where the experimentation in sound has paid off well. It’s got more of an indie pop sound with a gorgeous synth sounding opening that then comes in with a big punch of further instrumentals. If You Me At Six will be doing the festival circuit, this absolutely needs to be on the setlist. It’s got a lot of their older sound that’s had a massive and perfect refresh giving a fresh lease of life.
Although overall it’s a respectable album, it feels a bit disjointed and messy. Featuring a lot of different genres and sounds, it fails to flow. It’s always exciting when bands stray from their typical sound, but this is a case of less is more. There’s huge satisfaction in listening to a new album front to back but this one feels so much stronger on shuffle; Breakdown being a particularly jarring track that at least on shuffle you know it’ll be random and not jumping around in sound or vibe.
Reaching their 8th studio album, the biggest criticism of Truth Decay comes from how disjointed the overall experience of listening front to back feels. As an album to add on shuffle it’s great and mostly filled with bangers; but over all it feels like too many sounds are being experimented with and could certainly have been more refined or trimmed down.
Overall, its absolutely an album to check out, but not one you could recently come back to or have on repeat. Truth Decay satisfies the nostalgia of old school You Me At Six and fits well with the “emo/tumblr” aesthetic come back and will be great to hear some of these tracks live. For You Me At Six fans new and old its certainly worth giving a listen and one to go in to with a totally open mind.
Truth Decay is available now via AWAL Recordings. To purchase the record, head to their online store.
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