Album Review: Greywind - Severed Heart City

Sometimes, I find it difficult to figure out if a common sentiment is genuine, or is merely the inertia of the past hitting terminal velocity. In the last couple of years, there has been a resurgence of emo, which has happened to coincide with me reaching my emo phase far older than I should have. There have been numerous records that fit the bill to one degree or another that I have been fond of, which has propped up my listening and lists as some of the old stalwarts have been failing me. The biggest attention getter from all of this was the return of My Chemical Romance, who have been touring in huge venues, and who put out one rapturously received new song to herald this era of backwards looking affection.

I ask the question about how genuine the emo revival is, because My Chemical Romance in particular is a phenomenon I do not understand. Yes, I think "The Black Parade" is a great album, but nothing else they have done has ever spoken to me, and that reunion single was one of the most worthless songs I've ever heard in my life. That so many people treated it as the second coming felt to me much the same as the devoted Christians who seem to have never read the words spoken by their God.

Greywind cite My Chemical Romance as an influence, but they approach emo from a different angle. They are less maudlin and melodramatic by nature, but Steph O'Sullivan's voice would give a different color regardless. Her delivery comes without the sharp and cynical snark that dominated that wave of emo, instead giving Greywind's music a more natural and genuine quality. That lets the songs breathe, and it stops me from wondering if "Let's See If You Can Float" is intended as a musical version of the old David Letterman bit, "Will It Float?". Damn, that's not the worst idea, is it?

Over the course of these ten songs and half-an-hour, Greywind focuses on delivering their emo with plenty of pop sheen. This is more "Bleed American" style Jimmy Eat World than "Futures" style, where the darker edges of our negative feelings are bleeding in around the edges, as opposed to being the focal point slowly seeping over the entire scene. That means while we are facing the issues and questions brought up by the self-exploration of the songs, we are doing so through the kinds of jaunty melodies that make us feel as if we are dancing with our demons, and not practicing to dance on our own graves. Feeling terrible is too easy to bring it on intentionally.

My favorite track is "Moon", which is a lovely sing-along that reminds me not so much of the aforementioned emo bands, but of The Nearly Deads. Like that band, Greywind is remembering that if you take a tacky Velvet Elvis, you can repurpose it into a soft pillowcase. Listening to "Swerve" is like feeling that caress, and the tactile rush that comes along with focusing all your attention on your sensory experience. Non-ambient music can't really be ASMR, but the idea is similar in theory.

All of that is to say Greywind has made an album that manages to hit different marks depending on your mood as you listen to it. The songs work as pure pop songs to deliver us feel-good moments if we want to lift ourselves up. The songs work as emo bangers if we want to know someone else has felt the way we feel. That sort of versatility goes a long way to keeping the album fresh as we go back again, as does the brevity of its running time. This is the sort of album you can listen to, and then go back and listen to the highlights again, all without feeling burned out.