February 10th was a good day for me – travelling to London for a You Me At Six (YMAS) concert, I had three new albums to explore on that long, incredibly boring journey. Of course, Paramore’s This is Why album was the highlight of the day, alongside YMAS’s Truth Decay and Pierce the Veil’s Jaws of Life. Today’s focus will be on YMAS’s Truth Decay – was it worth the delay, and all their hype?
I was introduced to YMAS from a very young age by my cousin, but never got into them too much. This was until Bite my Tongue came on the radio, early 2012 – where my love really stemmed from, and started to grow. By the end of the year, I had been to my first ‘proper’ concert (i.e., one I actually wanted to go to), with their Final Night of Sin live at Wembley arena – and what a night that was. Sinners Never Sleep holds a special place in my heart, but the true shining album for me is their 2010 Hold me Down album – with Stay with Me, Contagious Chemistry, Trophy Eyes and of course, Underdog, taking the lead for possibly their best songs. Their fourth album following Sinners Never Sleep, Cavalier Youth, held a different tone and mood, but the spring vibe to the album is one that I embraced and enjoy – an album to enjoy for blue skies and drinks. It has some songs the follow the same ideas of their first three, such as Fresh Start Feverand Room to Breathe, but the others breathed a new gush of air into the band, and again, I enjoyed the spring vibes that came with it.
But from Cavalier Youth onwards, I started to enjoy their music just that little bit less. Night People, VI and SUCKAPUNCH I enjoyed, but to a much lesser extent. It didn’t stop me from going to their shows of course, but there was the feeling that a lot of their songs were produced solely for the matter of playing them live, as opposed to home listening. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing these performances – due to the pandemic, their performance at Alexandra Palace this year was my first show of theirs since 2019 and experiencing SUCKAPUNCH live was honestly an amazing experience. But the three albums since Cavalier Youth, just don’t share those same components that their first four albums did – it seemed a pretty big leap away from their old tones, and honestly, VI was not an album I was expecting at all. I still enjoy them but have far more songs I don’t choose listen to, than those I’ll actively want to listen to.
Which leads me, of course, to Truth Decay. Having brought the tickets to the album tour, back in July of last year, I was incredibly excited – mostly for the fact that it would be my 9th YMAS show to date (so close to double digits!), but also for the new music that would be released. Deep Cuts and No Future? Yeah Right, were in my favourite of the singles, and though the others later released I wouldn’t enjoy as much, these two gave me hope for the new album – a good mix of their original vibes, a bit of angst and anger, alongside some newer vibes that I was hoping would grow on me. I know heartLESS certainly did, and I’ve had it on my mind on a loop for a while recently, so naturally I was excited for Truth Decay’s eventual release. Having it pushed back, so that we couldn’t experience much of it live was a slight disappointment, however the setlist that they did perform, more than made up for that – and maybe it was for the better.
The album isn’t a complete let down – with the three singles I really enjoy, alongside After Love in the After Hours, Breakdown and A Love Letter to Those Who Feel Lost, the album holds up. A Love Letter to Those Who Feel Lost, is absolutely beautiful – Cody Frost’s vocals pair so wonderfully with Josh Franceschi’s, creating an incredibly emotive and stunning performance. But the album certainly doesn’t take a top spot in their works, in my opinion. For the most part, the only way I can describe it is ‘meh’ – it’s slightly underwhelming. Perhaps this is in part to its release date? The original release date was scheduled for the 27th of January, but due to vinyl production issues, this was pushed back to February 10th – as we know, the date of Paramore’s This is Why release, alongside Pierce the Veil’s Jaws of Life. Perhaps a reason to my feelings of slight disappointment, was my excitement for Paramore’s release? I made the conscious effort to listen to YMAS’s album first – both in preparation for the concert, and to try and not let Paramore’s album overshadow their work, and yet it just failed to live up to any expectations. The album’s okay. It just isn’t excellent, and to be fair, I suppose my love for Hold me Down, makes any that follow a little hard to live up to. I have grown to like the direction YMAS are choosing to follow with their form of maturity and their explorations of genres outside of teen angst, but the few songs that stand out, don’t overtake my love for their old music. I can still recognise a bit of their old genre, especially in God Bless the 90s Kids, and even in A Smile to Make You Weak(er) at the Knees, but for me, it just isn’t enough.
That being said, this will never stop me from listening to whatever they produce next or seeing them live – even for those who don’t love YMAS, their live performances are truly an experience. They never fail to put on a good, lively, welcoming, and wonderful show, and the band truly know how to create an excellent atmosphere.
Maybe the album will grow on me. I really hope so.
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