Released right after the autumnal equinox, joan’s sophomore album this won’t last forever appropriately begins with the lyrics: “Leaves started falling.” And it might be because it’s cloudy outside my room or because stores seem to already have their Halloween stuff out, but I think the indie pop duo’s cozy, nostalgic record is a perfect and comforting escape for the current season (and I am not just talking about the lower temperatures) most of us are going through.
In the same opening and title track, I can hear the classic ’90s-to-early-2000s sound that turned me into a fan in 2018. It also shows their songwriting ability with a concept that encompasses basically what it means to be alive: this won’t last forever. Happiness, just like life, is fleeting and everything comes to an end, but at the same time, the worst won’t last forever, the bad feelings will have to go away at some point. The band spoke on the album’s influence during an interview with AltPress, noting the themes of impending doom and melancholy.
It’s a double edge sword, one that can make you feel better about things or just worse, but either way I would think that that’s a pretty way of summarizing how a lot of us go through life. Or maybe I’m just too sentimental, but oh well, this is my review!
The joan boys move through songs that bring out their recognizable, vintage-y style with ease, in tracks like “face” and “supernatural,” but also try out new formulas this time around. Musically, there’s a bit of The 1975 in “body language,” lyrically, a darker and more lustful concept in “magic,” and even some hyperpop influences in “heartbodymindsoul” (one of my favorites in the whole album) and “tsunami”. They, of course, also included their mandatory ballad, the one titled “eyes”.
Two songs that are definitely highlights for me are “lucid dreaming” and “bothered”. The first one has more of an edgy vibe to it which is unfortunately what my pretentious self loooves to hear. It reminded me of 5 Seconds Of Summer’s 2018 album Youngblood—a huge compliment because the 5SOS raised me—and it made me want to be a fake angsty teen again (our Editor in Chief, Kristin, might argue that I am still one).
On the other hand, if you told me indie singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker wrote and produced and gave birth to “bothered” I would be like “yes, yes he did, I was the fly on the wall in the studio when he made it.” But Zucker did not have a hand in the song’s creation, and it’s ironic that I made the connection, considering I found out about joan when they opened for him…everything connects, life is a circle, serendipity, blah blah. I LOVE this song, it scratches all the right parts of my brain and I’m glad they saw its potential too and released it as one of the album’s singles.
Alan Benjamin Thomas and Steven Rutherford’s project has become one of the bands that I go to for comfort. Their touches and clear inspirations from multiple previous decades of pop music always remind me of the joy of being able to love music the way that I do. In a way, it keeps me aware of the passing of time through the similarities between the things that I’ve liked in the past, and the ones I currently like. this won’t last forever is a new way in which joan did that and I hope not just for me. My recommendation is to grab a hot chocolate and a coloring book and play this in the back, and immerse yourself in the beautiful world that this band continues to create.
this won’t last forever is out now.
0 comments on “Indie Pop Duo joan Go Deeper and Darker on Sophomore album ‘this won’t last forever’”