It’s been 4 years since Touché Amoré released Lament. For well over half that time I’ve been craving more new music from them.  I’ll try and find stuff that gives me the same feeling that a Touché record gives, or at least that comes close. But, while there’s lots of great bands under the hardcore umbrella, there is only one Touché Amoré. Nobody blends melodic and emotional hardcore and punk the way they do. 

So when the band announced their new record, Spiral in a Straight Line back in July, it instantly became my most anticipated record in a long time. It’s their first record on Rise Records and second produced by legendary producer Ross Robinson. It’s safe to say I went into this record with high expectations.

As soon as lead single, and first track “Nobody’s” began, I immediately got that feeling I’d been looking for in the time since their last record.  It’s unmistakably a Touché song right from the beginning. It’s energetic and melodic, with the urgency that is so characteristic of the band.  Driving that urgency is frontman Jeremy Bolm’s raw intense vocals mixed with his deeply personal and introspective lyrics.  Bolm has mentioned that the track provides the “broad strokes” of the album’s message.  The song and album are about moving forward, while struggling to keep control, while dealing with the chaos of life and personal struggles.

Hal Ashby, the third track and second single released for the record.  Like the titular filmmakers most famous movies Harold and Maude and Being There, the track is about misunderstanding and feeling a desperate need for clarity.  The bridge features one of my favorite lines from the whole record. “A misguided Hal Ashby catastrophe, not exactly something you plan to be.  You gotta handle it gracefully”. It’s a special moment when you can listen to art somebody else created, and it feels like they are tapped directly into the way your own mind works and the way you process things.

Mezzanine is instantly one of my favorite songs on the record.  The song is structured in a way that gives this feeling of being wound up tighter and tighter until you break.  The song starts out with an aggressive onslaught of Jeremy’s vocals, Elliot Babin’s intense yet intricate drums, Tyler Kirby’s bass and both Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt’s guitars all hit you at once.  The verses have this feeling like a spring being twisted tighter and tighter.  Once the chorus  hits, a little tension is released only to be immediately tightened in the next verse. The song finally breaks apart near the end, becoming this wider expansive sound as Jeremy yell’s “We’re unraveling, we are tangled up and it’s not easy” The feeling the song gives you matching perfectly with the themes.

Subversion is another highlight for me.  It starts out as probably the quietest song on the album, and builds to the catchiest riff on the whole record. It’s a fantastic standout for Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt’s guitar work.  The song also features Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, an artist known for raw introspective lyrics making a perfect match with Touché.  It’s a song that I immediately want to repeat every time I hear it.

The record ends with Jeremy singing “We say goodbye for now and I’ll try and come around” with the always incredible Julien Baker providing an emotional punch to end the record. It’s a record that is filled with intense rippers, slowing down only for a few quieter moments but always pushing forward.  It captures the feeling of spiraling as you get caught up in the storm of emotion, pain and memories of past mistakes and regret as you try to move forward after life has been thrown into a tailspin. It’s an intense, emotionally heavy record but it’s never difficult to listen to, which is a magic that Touché Amoré are better than most at.  It flies by and I’ve found myself often easily listening through the record two or three times when I put it on.  Spiral in a Straight Line is intense, heavy, deeply personal and incredibly relatable. It’s a masterclass in melodic hardcore. In other words, it’s a Touché Amoré record. It’s easily one of my favorite releases so far this year.

Rating – 9/10

Touche Amore – Spiral in a Straight Line

Release Date: 10/11/24

Tracklist:

Nobody’s

Disasters

Hal Ashby

Force of Habit

Mezzanine

Altitude

This Routine

Finalist

Subversion (Brand New Love) [feat. Lou Barlow]

The Glue

Goodbye for Now (feat. Julien Baker)

Written by Connor Wright