Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the honor goes to Touché Amoré for their new single “Nobody’s.”
Touché Amoré teased their newly announced album Spiral in a Straight Line earlier this week with its fantastic opening track “Nobody’s.” Coming in at just over two minutes in length, it’s an exercise in concise songwriting — like a classic pop song — and passionately direct in that very Touché Amoré way.
No, this isn’t a pop song, but the band measures out the arrangement as such, allocating just the right amount of time and repetition. The song never feels rushed. Yet, it seems to traverse a vast emotional distance, due in large part to the delivery of vocalist Jeremy Bolm. He can scream out a melody with the best of them, and if he sounds a bit more exasperated and strained here, it’s probably because of the urgency behind the lyrics.
“In just a handful of lyrics, it gives the broad strokes of the album,” remarked Bolm. “A song and record about forward movement while everything around you becomes destabilized.”
Honorable Mentions:
Billie Joe Armstrong – “Black Haired Girl” (Jesse Malin Cover)
Billie Joe Armstrong’s respect and admiration for singer-songwriter Jesse Malin is evident on the Green Day frontman’s cover of Malin’s “Black Haired Girl.” This is a totally fleshed-out, surging power-pop tune delivered with palpable heart and soul. And it was recorded to help raise money for Malin, who suffered a spinal stroke last year. Full marks across the board!
God Is an Astronaut – “Embers”
It’s ironic. Our first experience with the new single from post-rock outfit God Is an Astronaut came after viewing a 20-second unskippable Volkswagen ad on YouTube. It’s from these utter inanities that such a song can rescue us. The expansive 10-minute track ventures on a sonic journey, from calming strings to Tool-esque prog workouts, frenetic percussion, and full-on symphonic treatments. It’s the kind of music that makes your mind create images — and how refreshing when we’re involuntarily inundated with so many.
Uniform – “Permanent Embrace”
Uniform appear to have flipped the proverbial script on their new album American Standard, showcasing a daring and more extreme sound with previous HSOTW inclusion “This Is Not a Prayer” and this new single “Permanent Embrace.” They get a little Godflesh-y here, with grinding repetition, grisled guitars, and the intoxicating patter of the band’s new dual drummer format.