Joyce Manor - 'Well, Whatever It Was'
Joyce Manor returned this week with a brand new take on modern emo, in the form of 2 singles, “All My Friends Are So Depressed” and the brand new release “Well Whatever It Was”. Both of these fresh singles appear to draw influence from various genres, compiling pop, country, emo and modern acoustic rock into one neatly wrapped package. Coming back to release new music is always hard after a long layoff, but these new releases are nothing short of a return to form. They have seamlessly reengaged with their audience and stirred up excitement in the form of an album announcement and various shows over both the UK and Europe, as well as the US.
Straight out of the gate, “Well Whatever It Was” digs deep into the nostalgia of Barry Johnson's vocals and brings back all the memories of skinny jeans and heavenly whiney voices to produce an immediately captivating sound. This, coupled with gorgeous pop-based chord progressions, creates a breath of fresh air for the band that is truly separate from their previous music. Despite having an entirely different rhythmic feel, this single does not sound out of place in their rich and deep discography, implanting itself beautifully in the history of a band that is held near and dear to many broken hearts. This effortless implementation helps the band reconnect with fans of “Never Hungover Again” and “40. Oz to Fresno” and introduce them to a brand new style of experimental and, quite frankly, revolutionary emo music.
It will be extremely interesting to see how this new sound transfers to their live format, as Joyce Manor has always been known as both an emotive and exhilarating live band, always bringing the energy and pulling in big crowds at festivals like Outbreak and the up-and-coming common Thread, their previous performances at these festivals have been legendary and are still viewed and talked about today, leaving me very excited to see just how they manage to bring this lighter pop influenced sound to such a large crowd that are normally used to the grinding and brilliantly harsh sound of their earlier records. Joyce Manor kicks off their European and UK tour with Common Thread Festival and a few solo shows in between. The brand new album “I Used To Go To This Bar” Releases on the 30th of January via Epitaph Records, and if these singles are anything to go by, it will be making waves on release, and I, for one, am deathly excited to get my cry on once again.
Words by Josh Pook
