ALBUM REVIEW: Future Nausea – Spanish Love Songs
Since 2015, SPANISH LOVE SONGS have launched themselves into the pantheon of great emo bands and have fast become one of the most important bands for a disenfranchised generation of people frustrated with the state of the world as it barrels towards what feels like disaster. The back end of 2026 sees the release of their excellent new album, Future Nausea. It is able to capture the current feelings of those who care and have used that to fuel an album that is so very much needed that helps us make sense of everything going on around us.
The album’s namesake Future Nausea launches us into this new era of SPANISH LOVE SONGS. A tinkering piano kicks off the record proper before vocalist Dylan Slocum’s instantly recognisable voice joins in. The song offers what is so great about the band, it looks in dismay at the current state of affairs in America and how it feels like this current version of America is here to stay. The lyrics themselves are quite miserable but within the music, there is a tiny ember of hope that stays throughout and contradicts the themes perfectly as it fills you with anger, but most importantly a small inkling of hope.
Following on is the wonderful lead single of the album Good American. It captures that feeling from Brave Faces Everyone as it sarcastically talks about how there are certain people in America that have a view of what the country should be. SPANISH LOVE SONGS offer a realistic look at what life is currently like for the regular joe and what they experience in their day to day life.
Welcome To Hell comes next. A sarcastic take on how hell is no longer a concept, it continues the themes that already make the foundation of Future Nausea as it takes a look at how hell itself is no longer a concept, it has come to earth and it has been caused by humans who seem intent on destroying everything and seem content on letting capitalism destroy our lives and then can’t through it enough to blame it for how shit everything has got. If you can make it through without a lump in your throat, then bravo.
New Fears is next up to bat and continues the realistic and hard hitting themes of the album. It looks at the anxieties of people who go into each day not knowing what awful event or news is coming next and keeps us on edge and how we no longer feel like we can achieve the dreams we once had. Living Blues goes hand in hand with New Fears, taking aim at the industries that are currently making our lives a misery and how there seems to be no sign of it stopping. It touches on what feels like generational trauma and how the depressing nature of life does pass down from one to the other. It is damning but incredibly relatable to everyone who listens who feels like they are stuck in a rut and feel like they can’t get out. It does give the impression that once our time is up that there can be some peace for us, or we face purgatory where it’s the same in the afterlife than it is down here. It’s not the most cheerful song, but one of SPANISH LOVE SONGS’ most important songs to date.
The not so subtly titled, Jan666 follows. Working as a pinpoint to when everything truly started to go tits up in the world and sarcastically damning those who see it as the start of a journey to a promised land. Despite the title, next track Doom Tripping is a masterpiece of a song that allows its synths to shimmer through brilliantly, it’s gloriously optimistic as it begs us to persevere during the toughest days in order to get to those days that make us smile.
The bleak motifs continue with the SPRINGSTEEN inspired tracks on anthemic display with Shadowland and No Dreams as they add to the smorgasbord of hits that Future Nausea contains. As we make our way towards the end of Future Nausea, we meet Future Nausea Pt. 2. It doesn’t quite hit the mark of its predecessor as it offers little escape from the bleak futurescape that beckons us. The lyrics, “the future is lonely” hit you like a hammer as it looks for a way out but seems fairly settled with how it’s all going to pan out.
Penultimate song, See You On The Way Out is another track that is a dour song, yet again, that slight hint of hope comes back round. It has a warmer feeling than most songs on the record as it looks at how there can be moments where you feel like a different person when you’re at your lowest. But it insists that these times can come to an end as you feel like you come round to your usual self and have those people in your life that bring you the moments you yearn for and hold dear to you. It’s a powerful track that has that perfect SPANISH LOVE SONGS feel as it basks in synths once more that give you a nice feeling inside. Closing the album out acoustically is Until The Sun Explodes. Future Nausea remains defiant until its absolute last moments with it being a haunting and mournful elegy to a world in decline. The beauty and poignancy rise and rise until it gets to its very triumphant end that cements SPANISH LOVE SONGS as one of our modern greats.
It’s safe to say that Future Nausea will be making its way onto AOTY lists come December. Each song brings out emotions in you in different ways, it can be sad, but as mentioned throughout, it can also bring out hope. Whilst it may be fairly miserable throughout, it is needed. It holds the people in control accountable and yearns for you to do the same. Until its very end, it remains powerful and packed full of an energy that is going to be brilliant on their UK tour in 2027. It’s good to have them back.
Rating: 10/10
Future Nausea is set for release on November 6th via Pure Noise Records.
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