The Backseat Lovers' "Waiting To Spill" overflows with raw emotion
Album Review: The Backseat Lovers- Waiting to Spill
By: Raquel Lacusky
The Backseat Lovers are back with their sophomore album Waiting to Spill. The indie-rock band has proved that they matured since the release of their very successful debut album, When We Were Friends featuring future indie classics like Kilby Girl.
Lead singer/guitarsit Joshua Harmon, lead guitarist/vocalist Jonas Swanson, bassist KJ Ward, and drummer Juice Welsh spent three years crafting Waiting To Spill. Three years well spent.
With their first album, the band made a name for themselves by showcasing their ability to create catchy indie tunes with rock flair that have had audience members dancing in crowds across the country at live shows since 2019. But, with Waiting to Spill, they’re doing something different. The band has proved that they are here to stay with an album focused on musicality and emotional intention.
Waiting to Spill sounds cinematic. A sound reminiscent of a plane soaring through the end of track one, Silhouette, prepares listeners for the journey that the subsequent songs bring. Sonically, the album is more acoustic and experimental than the tracks previously found in the band's catalog. It doesn’t need lyrics to feel emotional, but the lyrical intimacy of Waiting to Spill brings the album to the next level. Breaking down fears of abandonment, growing up, and losing yourself, the Backseat Lovers’ are bringing fans closer than ever.
Haunting lyrics like “Whisper in my ear / That you need me / But if you saw it clearly / Would you leave me?” from Slowing Down and “Catching up on sleep’s / Harder when I’m waking up next to me” from Snowbank Blues are sure to strike a chord with listeners. The band addresses the emotional honesty of the record in Words I Used as listeners hear, “Yesterday I wrote a little tune / I’m afraid you’ll hate the words I used / I’m sorry but it’s been weighing on me / No I can’t lie when I sing.”
Close Your Eyes puts this emotional honesty on full display. The song encompasses fighting the uneasy feelings of the inevitability of growing up. The song opens with the lyrics “Do you wanna be / Like your father? / The older you get / Your head’s getting hotter.” The song goes on to explore how parents often encourage their children to do more with their lives by complaining about how they wasted their own. Harmon takes this introspection a step further by questioning if his father could waste his life by telling him to live out his own. He sings, “Could you waste your life / If you painted mine?” The instrumental then slowly builds under the repetition of the lyric “Oh I’d hate to get any older,” until it feels as though the band is releasing their fears of leaving their younger years behind.
Upon first listen, it’s difficult to guess where each song is going. It’s refreshingly unpredictable. Some of the most impressive musical components of Waiting to Spill are the build-ups found on tracks like Silhouette, Close Your Eyes, Slowing Down, and Know Your Name. The band alters typical song structures to create tracks that crescendo quiet moments into full-bodied instrumentals to allow listeners to feel the songs’ emotional impacts. It truly sounds like the record is waiting to spill. Fans who have seen the band live know The Backseat Lovers are no strangers to noise, but on Waiting to Spill, they’ve mastered how to use noise to advance their storytelling.
None of the album’s tracks feel like weak spots. From acoustic folk moments like Snowbank Blues to indie-rock staples like Growing/Dying the album feels complete and cohesive. To put it simply, Waiting to Spill is waiting for a listen.
