by Sarah Madden
“Tomorrow looks different when hope seems so distant”
Plan a road trip to anywhere and roll the windows down just so you can let your hand ride over the wind while you listen to Bad Suns’ new album Mystic Truth. The lead single “Away We Go” is a fantastic opener that will lift you out of the greyest day and make you feel like the sun is shining.
If you want a frontman to sing sad lyrics like it’s the best day of their life, look no further than Christo Bowman. When he sings “Back to Earth / Back to work I detest / Strike a match / Light a fire in my chest” in “Love by Mistake” you could almost skip. And with “Darkness Arrives (and Departs)” Bad Suns has created the essential happy-sad song with a seemingly effortless and carefree feel. Bowman manages to bleed a little of Further Seems Forever and Phoenix into the way he sings—without sounding derivative. The many-layered “Howling at the Sun” will end up on repeat—not only because you’ll love it but so you can savor every little sound you hear.
An almost circular arrangement of songs makes this record an instant favorite. The final track “Starjumper” is somber yet closes out Mystic Truth with a familiar tone and tempo so when “Away We Go” starts over it makes sense. As much as Mystic Truth is unmistakably Bad Suns, it’s definitely not more of the same. The growth from their 2016 release Disappear Here is like when an A-grade student starts doing the extra credit and everything becomes an A+.
Buy it, Stream it, or Skip it?: BUY IT!
