Courtesy: Black Heart Saints/TAG Publicity
Black Heart Saints has some more new music for its fans. The independent Austin, TX-based hard rock band released its new EP Misery in September. The four-song, 15-minute record’s release comes two years after the release of its debut album Alive. Misery holds its own against offerings from the group’s more well-known counterparts just as much as Alive. That is proven in part through the EP’s title track, which is also its closer. ‘Crazy,’ the EP’s second song supports the noted statement just as much as ‘Misery.’ The same can be said of the band’s cover of Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted To Love.’ All three songs do their own part to exhibiting the EP’s appeal. When they are considered alongside the record’s opened, ‘Lines,’ the general effect will leave listeners feeling anything but misery.
Black Heart Saints’ latest studio recording Misery is a presentation that shows this Austin, TX-based rock band has its own very strong heart beat. The EP’s title track, which is also its closing number, is just one of the songs that serves to show the strength of said heartbeat. The song’s musical arrangement presents a familiar southern rock styling that will appeal to fans of acts, such as Blues Saraceno and Black Stone Cherry among many others. As the song progresses, it adds a touch of Buckcherry influences into the mix, too. The whole of those influences makes the song’s arrangement its own point of engagement and entertainment. It is just one part of what makes the song stand out. The song’s lyrical content makes for its own interest.
Front man Josh Ross sings in the song’s chorus, “Misery is breaking me/I just need to find me another way/Misery/Well can’t you see/What I need for you to let me be/Yea, you got a hold on me.” Ross sings in the song’s second verse of someone “ripping out his heart” in the song’s second verse, and even trying to find out “which way I should go” in the song’s lead verse. There is a lot here that is difficult to decipher without lyrics to reference. However, the lyrics that can be deciphered are just enough to get a good idea of what the song’s subject is talking about in this case. This is someone who has gone through a bad relationship and is at that point in said post relationship status in which he realizes he has to look forward and move on past what has happened. This is something relatable to plenty of listeners, and in turn will connect with those noted listeners. It is that sense of determination that everyone reaches after getting out of a bad situation but realizing wallowing in self-pity does nothing to help. The fire in the song’s musical arrangement illustrates that message even more, and so well at that. It make for a strong final statement from the band on this record and just one example of the EP’s strength.
‘Misery’ is an unquestionable sign of the strength of Black Heart Saints’ new EP. That is due to its musical and lyrical content both by themselves and collectively. The song is just one of the works featured in the record that shows the EP’s strength, too. ‘Crazy,’ the EP’s second song is another example of what makes the record notable in its own right. The song’s musical arrangement is a full-on guitar rock opus whose riffs take the best elements of rock’s golden age and marry that with more modern hard rock elements. The end result of that coupling is a high-energy work that is certain to appeal to a wide range of listeners. That noteworthy arrangement joins with the song’s equally interesting lyrical content to make the song in whole even more enjoyable.
Ross sings in the song’s chorus, “What is it about you/I don’t want to know/What is it about you/That won’t let me go/Run so far away/Drives me crazy/Can’t find my way/Somebody save me/What can I say/I’m going crazy/Spinning off this rail/I must be crazy/Yea, you drive me crazy.” He speaks in the song’s second verse of “All these broken things/That you left to me/Pulls up memories/Keep creeping in/Still haunting me” and that he’d “better ramble on/Find a place of my own.” Again, much of the song’s lyrical content is difficult to decipher without a lyrics sheet to reference. Howeer, enough is understandable so as to be able to understand that this is another song focused on the familiar topic of a broken relationship. The matter in this case is that frustration of having dealt with the poisonous relationship. Again, it is a fully relatable topic that, when coupled with the song’s musical arrangement, will appeal to a very wide range of listeners. As relatable and entertaining as the song is, it is not the last of the record’s most interesting work. The band’s cover of Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted To Love’ adds its own share of entertainment and engagement to its whole.
The band’s take on ‘Addicted To Love’ stays largely true to its source material, just with a bit of an amped-up re-imagining. What is really interesting to the song here is that updated take actually conjures more thoughts of Buckcherry than Robert Palmer thanks to Ross’ vocal delivery and the work of his band mates on their respective parts. While Mr. Palmer may no longer be with us, he and his fans would be proud of the infectious groove established through the band’s arrangement here. In all honesty, it may be a cover, but the band’s work on this song makes it the EP’s best offering, and one more example of what makes the record worth the listen. When it is considered along with ‘Crazy,’ ‘Misery’ and even ‘Lines,’ the EP’s opener, the end result is a good follow-up to Black Heart Saints’ debut LP and another sign of the heart still left in this band.
Black Heart Saints’ newly released EP Misery is a good follow-up to the band’s 2017 debut album Alive. While it only boasts four song spanning a total of 15 minutes, the EP shows this Austin, TX-based band is still “alive” and has plenty of heart left. Yes, those terrible puns were intended. That is proven through the record’s accessible musical arrangements and equally accessible and relatable lyrical content. That is proven in all three of the songs examined here. When they are considered along with the EP’s opener ‘Lines,’ the result is a positive new offering from the band that will leave listeners anything but miserable. Misery is available now here. More information on the EP is available along with all of Black Heart Saints’ latest news and more at:
Website: http://blackheartsaintsmusic.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blackheartsaints
Twitter: http://twitter.com/blackheartsts
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