I cannot stress enough how important their first album was to me, let’s form a prayer circle and hope they don’t do a Haim, and deliver us some amazing songs.
Winterbreak still does things to me and the whole album was and remains a total triumph, can't wait for this.
They didn't breakthrough to the same extent that Haim did with their first album, so I imagine they're under a different sort of pressure. About U was sublime, I just hope they have a proper budget to promote and tour this time around.
I listened to "About U" again today after I came across an old diary entry in which I went on about how much I loved the album and related to it etc., and it's still an amazing debut. I don't listen to it as much because it's one of those albums I can only listen to when I'm sad, but it's so good. "After" is by far my favourite.
I don't think I know anyone else who loves After but it's also up there for me with the very best of this album. Sometimes I think the lyrics should be taken literally and refer to the comedown and falling into a big black hole of nothingness after a really euphoric drug high, but other times I wonder if it's more of a metaphor for the end of a relationship or something else. But not being sure just adds to the song's mystique. It's incredible. (It's also the only song on there with sub-1m streams, which is sad. Get taste.)
About U was a rare album that felt like it came out of the blue just for me. And I love that so many others feel the exact same way? It's phenomenal. It hit me right as my ex and I had given up on our reunion moment of whatever and though it felt right I just wasn't sure how to feel as a whole. Everything's about you to me A lyric! I await. Have they taken About U One Year On off streaming? I lived for those tracks.
I always interpreted the song being about what you already mentioned; falling into a depression after an otherwise amazing experience/night/etc. Then again, I was going through a bit of a low period at the time I first heard the album, so I was always going to try to relate the songs to my own experiences, more so than with other acts that released music that year. I like that their songs can be interpreted in so many ways. I know a lot of people turn to the album for relatable lyrics about relationships and love, but for me the album is personally more about a general mood. I love it.
'After' is one of my favourite takes from the album. I lost one of my best friends to suicide last year, and we both loved "About U". 'After' was the song that helped me process my emotions after it happened. The lyrics are minimal enough that they actually felt like they were trying to help me not sink into a black hole and actually confront what I was dealing with. I mean, fuck.
After is one that I always used to forget about (I didn't save it to any playlists of mine) but whenever I played the record through it always gut-punched me.
That's really awful @Tiger Suit, but I'm glad the album helped you in some way. Personally the only song I don't love is Promise. Everything else slaps and not a bit of it has aged at all. Loudspeaker was the song that made me fall in love with them and I think it's just about my favourite still. Around U challenges.
About U will always hold a very special place for me. No record has spoken to me on a personal level in a way that that album did. It defined an entire period in my life.
"A candle in the bedroom/Where I once performed a holy rite" from Around U is such a good lyric. I don't know why, I just love it. That entire song is great.
Yessss, that's my favourite lyric on the album. There's just something about it that's brilliant. That song has so many good lines - "The soft lines from the streetlights fall the same on my face" and "How can I try to be civilized/When inside there is a shift in paradigm"
It is near IMPOSSIBLE to even pick a favourite when they're all variations of 10s already - what an album
