Since their extremely successful first album Where The Heart Is, Philly-based Sweet Pill have been on a constant ascent. Their unique blend of melodic intensity, powerful yet angelic vocals and new school midwest emo riffs has placed them as the most refreshing emo band of the past decade. The five piece has very honestly opened up about the struggles they encountered with the compilation of this second album. The exhaustion of consistent travel and the expectation to summarily express it on a subsequent work is no small undertaking, and the pressure it places on an artist like singer Zayna Youssef and her relationships cannot be overstated. They ended up having to scrap a whole album worth of demos and decided to move on their own time; they had to pause, look inward, and ease the pressure they had been heaping on themselves over the past three years.
It is good to hear about bands being so honest about the struggle of navigating the music industry in this hyper-capitalist era, and not only that, but also taking it all in, reflecting and putting it into words and music. The band have described this record as one that tackles themes of self-reflection, learning from past mistakes and dealing with the emotions of being a human being, with this album forming from the natural process of trial and error in the creative space.
“a great album to have in the background on a gloomy day”
At first glance, before even pressing play, it is easy to notice that the tracks, together with the album artwork, share surreal depictions of fire and carry themes of destruction with titles like ‘Sunblind’, ‘No Control’, ‘Glow’, ‘Smoke Screen’, ‘Slow Burn’, and ‘Rotten’. With lyrics throughout that feel deeply determined in the face of daily struggles with pressure and self-doubt, Still There’s a Glow represents the process of resolving internal issues.
The record opens with ‘Sunblind’ with some energetic choppy riffs and emo arpeggios, the sound is crispy and hopeful, with a strong verse and melodic chorus. A pretty spot-on opening that gives you a sense of serenity. Following is what can be considered the poppiest tune of the album, ‘Shameless’, the back and forth of female and male vocals in the chorus brings you back right to 2007, a proper catchy emo ballad banger full Paramore style. ‘No Control’ jumps in right after with some stomping drums and a darker key change, this song has a more aggressive twist to it. Youssef has the power of showcasing rage without ever losing her clean pitch-perfect vocals, the power is in the lungs. It’s an interesting exchange with some screamed backing vocals.
‘Glow’ is a slow ballad that opens the dances to a part of the album that has some powerful peaks but with tracks that overall feels a bit similar. Some songs are strong, like ‘Slow Burn’ which picks up the pace, with gritty bass and guitar solos, but they then seem to fall back to something heard before with the next tracks. ‘Rotten’ breaks that routine and brings your attention back. The sound is rawer and the atmosphere is intense, strong harmonies and faster paced riffs make this track a stand-out. The last two tracks luckily don’t fail to get noticed. ‘Holding On’ with its more mathy rhythm and ‘Letting Go’, a very good choice of closure with its open and clear warm sound and positive tenderness. The arpeggios and voice almost seem like wanting to take you back to the feeling you experienced with their opening track.
Overall Still There’s A Glow is an undeniably well written album, the tracks flow naturally one after the other, which makes it a great album to have in the background on a gloomy day. However, the other side of the medal shows that it can seldom sound repetitive, some songs can result very similar to each other, especially in the middle of the record when it’s easy to get lost and lose focus. The crispier sound, compared to the previous album, is a step-up in terms of production but it may also have affected the rawness and realness of it all, resulting in a less coloured experience. Amazing vocals, honest lyrics and refined riffs throughout are unfortunately not enough to keep you hooked from the beginning to the end. Fewer tracks and a couple more standouts would’ve been a better option for a band like Sweet Pill who thrive on emotivity and sensitiveness, which are qualities that blossom when channeled into a small number of selected songs and not diluted in many.