Touché Amoré released their last record Lament in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when the future of live performance was still unknown. Fans had to be content from the comfort of their living rooms to celebrate a new batch of propulsive post-hardcore songs. Something was off, obvious call and response lines, like on track one Come Heroine, had to be studied through headphones rather than felt at a show. Seeing these songs live is a fundamental promise of Touché’s music but at that time it was implausible.

Four years later, a rain cloud formed above a crowd at Manchester’s Outbreak festival. Touché started their set as the rain started to pour, a perfect setting for their brand of catharsis. In the middle of the set singer Jeremy Bolm took to the mic and between breaths announced that they had been “tirelessly working on a new record” and that they would play the opening track Nobody’s. The crowd roared with approval. As the track bursts in with two full-band hits they reconcile what was lost on Lament.

Touché Amoré’s rainy introduction to their new record, Spiral in a Straight Line (Rise Records), eerily resembles the album's cover. It’s a dark scene that evokes a late-night drive with the only illumination emanating from the artificial light of a streetlamp. The downward path of running raindrops leave chaotic jagged paths on the window’s outside. As the viewer, we take the position of the passenger on this journey.

The subject of Spiral is well-known by this point, this is a record about a breakup to put it plainly. Bolm provides clues but doesn’t get into specifics about the dissolved relationship that has befallen him. We can parse that this was a ten-year relationship the separation has taken a mental toll on Bolm’s psyche. The tracks herein provide meditations on the incessant thought cycles that accompany Bolm’s transition to single life.

Weighty questions come to the fore across the record as Bolm wrestles his own demons. In Nobody’s. Bolm asks, “Is it enough / to call it off / and lick our wounds and put us into past tense?”. On the blown-out Finalist, the album’s aggressive peak, Bolm distills all his questions with his most evocative screams on Spiral; the track’s instrumental does not relent as Bolm expresses frustration over his delayed adjustment. The full band tirade culminates with Bolm’s
ferocious interrogation of his despair “Will I get used to this?”

The record’s lyrical concept could take up this entire review but doing so would leave out the notable sonic progression that Spiral showcases from the rest of the band. Spiral delivers intensity that felt lacking on Lament. On this second effort with legendary producer Ross Robinson (Korn, The Cure, Sepultura), the band adds further dimension by knowing when and how to bring down the intensity. Turns into more optimistic sounding songs are respites from full on rumination. Bright flashes in the darkness include Hal Ashby and This Routine which add a refreshing backdrop, modulating Bolm’s continuous reflection, hinting at a more hopeful outlook. Songs like Altitude break out of the mold with gargantuan half-time choruses that are arena ready. Touché successfully returned to sonic palettes found on their breakout record, 2013’s Is Survived By, kicking out the blast beats and tremolo picking, as well as ascending back to post- rock heights on Sprial’s closer Goodbye For Now, featuring Julien Baker. These ecstatic elements save Spiral from spiraling out into an infinite chasm of despair.

Spiral’s most ambitious track and the album’s crowning achievement is Subversion, subtitled (Brand New Love), featuring Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh. Following the onslaught of Finalist, Subversion dips to clean guitar arpeggios and talk-singed vocals. Bolm opts for a calm demeanor to relay his altered feeling after a dream visitation where he can speak but is unable to communicate with his former love. It’s a stark contrast to the record up to this point that has an air of understanding rather than confusion. Subversion’s channels Barlow to recite one of his own songs (Brand New Love by Sebadoh). Barlow’s sentiment in the lines “Any thought could be the beginning / Of the brand new tangled web you’re spinning / Anyone could be a brand new love” counters Bolm’s proclamations “I can’t see / beyond the / years behind me/ and it’s staggering”. Barlow is playing the role of the impartial song in Bolm’s headphones, relaying a promise of hope from beyond the current circumstance.

On Spiral In A Straight Line, Touché Amoré branches out of the often unwieldy descriptor of “post-hardcore band” by boldly exploring their range while continuing to revisit the hallmarks of their sound. At times the lyrical subject matter has the same flavor across tracks which is kept interesting by excellent performances by the rest of the band. Spiral showcases a multidimensional perspective on the dissolution of a decade long relationship. You could spend the same amount of time pouring over the details and asking questions. In just over 30 minutes Touché is able to arrive somewhere near a resolution. The final suite of tracks, Subversion, The Glue, and Goodbye For Now finally realize that the separation is real, and perhaps surmountable. We can step away from semantic treatises on what it is to belong to nobody, get used to being alone and hope for something new. The only real answer is to keep moving
forward even if you don’t know which way that is.

order by Spiral In A Straight Line by Touché Amoré HERE