Photo courtesy of Thomson200 via Wikimedia Commons. The Backseat Lovers continues their bittersweet ode to youth and looking forward in new album.
By Ella Jacob ’24
Arts & Entertainment Editor & Copy Editor
The Backseat Lovers, an indie-rock band from Utah, has done the seemingly impossible and solidified themselves as a timeless band in an age where much music, specifically indie, can sound like the echoes of its predecessors, lacking the creation of anything groundbreaking. Formed in 2018, the band appeals to a younger generation thrust into the uncertainty of a world turned upside down, experiencing the bittersweet and precarious nature of growing up. The Backseat Lovers — Joshua Harmon, lead singer and guitar; Jonas Swanson, guitar; KJ Ward, bass; and Juice Welch, drummer — embody exactly what it means to be a kid-turned-adult in a world that isn’t quite prepared for them.
With the debut of their EP “Elevator Days” (2018) and first album “When We Were Friends” (2019), The Backseat Lovers maintained a trend of singing about the woes of young love, with a mature and delicate take on the matter — not one tainted by anger, but instead flushed by uncertainty and appreciation. Within this theme is a broader one: coming-of-age. Nearly all of their songs may remind older listeners of the adolescent fear of growing up while simultaneously allowing younger listeners to sing along and identify with a band and lyrics that seem borne out of their own worries and insecurities. This trend did not stop with “Waiting to Spill,” the band’s second album, which was released on Oct. 28, 2022. Focusing on the same themes present in their previous work, the band has grown from expressing the uncertainty that accompanies getting older and instead focuses on the bittersweet sadness of having grown, and the anxiety that follows, both in their relationships with themselves and in their romantic experiences. This change is accompanied by a more mellow, climatic orchestration, with more piano accompaniment to illustrate the maturity of emotions that accompany them into this new phase. “Waiting to Spill” is a triumph for those riddled with post-adolescent anxiety and bittersweetness.
Present in both the first, “Silhouette,” and last, “Viciously Lonely,” tracks on the album is the acoustic guitar, an instrument that also appears at the beginning and end of some of the album’s other songs. This instrumentation is also echoed in “Morning in the Aves,” the album’s third track, in which the musician reminisces and wishes they could go back to appreciate the simplicity of the past. “Silhouette” has only eight lines of verse, with lyrics “Run while you can / While you are still a silhouette of a man,” illustrating the feelings of pain and uncertainty that the singer experiences, a theme present throughout the album. The sounds of crickets and car engines whirring by in the initial and final chords set the scene of a coming-of-age movie, painting a picture of an anxious character staring fearfully down an empty road. “Viciously Lonely” accepts this fear: “I tend to spend a couple hours a day / Waiting by the phone hopin’ there’s nothin’ to say / But I’ve got the feeling that my wake up call / Is on its way,” emphasizing that while their youth is gone and uncertainty lies ahead, they are also melting into the simplicity of life and slowly moving toward something new.
“Close Your Eyes,” the second track on the album, is more upbeat than the first, with the guitar and drums at the forefront of its production. In classic Backseat Lovers manner, as one instrument fades out, it is soon replaced by another, ensuring that said instrument communicates the intensity of the lyrics it accompanies. The chorus, “Could you waste your life / If you painted mine? / Now the day has died / But it’s too late to close your eyes,” expresses that to soothe their fear of getting older, they wish they had someone with them to feel less lonely. Ending with the repetition of the lyric “Oh, I’d hate to get any older,” instrumentals begin to build back up for an intense crescendo, mirroring the realization of aging and saying goodbye to those they love to let them grow. Track seven is introduced and concluded with the piano, as drums and guitar create a slightly upbeat melody throughout the middle parts of the song. The song “Follow The Sound,” also reminisces on the familiarity of childhood, with lyrics like, “I’ll quit the race and turn my hеad / To see what’s left and who I kept,” and “It’s been awhile / Should I run?” leaving the listener wondering — Who did the singer leave behind as he fell victim to his mind and time?
Track four, “Growing/Dying,” is arguably the strongest song, lyrically, out of the album. “Why does the plant on the windowsill reflect my state of mind? / Growing and dying all the time / Why did the clerk that rang me up look so hypnotized? / Just look me in the eyes,” introduces the song, accompanied by hefty electric guitar and drums that are careful not to overpower the song, allowing the listener to focus more on the lyrics rather than the arrangement. This song’s bridge, “Searching for a sliver / Just enough to tell the forest from the fire / Slowly gеtting closer / Every moment in thе light is drifting by,” is followed by heavier, more intense guitar, echoing the anger and pain of the reality of the world that the singer has been exposed to.
“Snowbank Blues,” the sixth track on the album, also leans into the acoustic sound, with lyrics “There’s a girl from down the road / Sendin’ looks my way / Frankly dear I’m not quite sure” and “I know you had to leave / But you didn’t have the right / To take the Sun / You stole it in my sleep,” communicating that a lover brought light into an otherwise dim, mundane world. Snow acts as a motif for mental illness in this ballad, as the chorus, “Wish I could roll the windows down / But the snow has swallowed up our little town,” further emphasizes the light that his lover provided. The ninth track, “Know Your Name,” with electric guitar and drums coming in strong and then fading out, appearing once again with the first lyrics, “Paranoia is painted on the membrane of my mind / Waitin’ for ya to gather up what’s left and leave me behind / Cause I’m a fallen soldier over and over / I’ve seen it twice before and I’m so afraid to close the door again,” almost seems to respond to the sadness presented in “Snowbank Blues.”
The eighth song on the album, “Slowing Down,” is the best of the album, both in production and lyricism. Introduced with reverbed guitar and drums that join later to create a seemingly sonic orchestration, the first four lyrics, “The sound of laughter / Echoes from a few doors down / The sound of pressure / Is getting louder,” are then followed by “Whisper in my ear / That you need me / But if you saw it clearly / Would you leave me?” As the instruments fade in and out to accompany the lyrics, the burning desire the singer has for his beloved is apparent, but underscored by his tendency to overthink. In the song’s latter half, the singer proclaims, “I’m honest to you / But I’m lyin’ to myself” and “People moving faster / Am I the only one that’s slowing down? / Am I slowing you down?” which, when accompanied by instruments that grow stronger the more fixated the singer is on his worries, leads perfectly to the assertion, “But if you saw it clearly / You would leave me.” Reassurance of his partner’s love for him is necessary, as is the guarantee that even if his lover is exposed to the inner workings of the singer’s mind, they won’t leave.
As The Backseat Lovers continue to make music based on their own experiences and worries, listeners can find comfort in the authenticity and intimacy that “Waiting to Spill” elicits. Not shying away from depicting themselves as lovelorn and anxious young adults who may not feel equipped to enter a world outside the guide and safety of adolescence, this album assures listeners that they are not alone in these worries, as both band and fan navigate the uncertainty of what is ahead.