ALBUM REVIEW: Together In Lonesome – Youth Fountain

If you’re in need of some pre-Christmas catharsis, you’re in luck. YOUTH FOUNTAIN are back with an album of retro emo bangers to have you sitting down and really feeling things. Together In Lonesome is the third album from the emo project of Vancouver guitarist and vocalist Tyler Zanon, and the project’s maturity shows. While there are still some typical YOUTH FOUNTAIN traits on the record (like the distinctive short but powerful opener), overall the sound is cleaner and more confident. 

Tracks like Fallen Short, Identical Days and Twin Flame are instant emo classics – heart-wrenching lyrics, detailing heartbreak, and delivered with vocals straight from the heart. You’d be forgiven for double-checking the release date to see if they are essential tracks you missed from the mid-00s. But, with nostalgia for this era being at an all-time high, YOUTH FOUNTAIN couldn’t have released them at a better time. 

Roses In My Backpack is the type of track so filled with energy that it is all too easy to miss the heaviness of the lyrics. On first listen, the layered, fast-paced drum beat can have you thrashing your head without thinking, until the lyrical content catches up to you. Then, the track deals a gut punch. A standout is the line from the chorus “These are the hardest years I’ve ever faced,” which is sure to speak to a considerable number of listeners right now.

The album hits a slight lull around Clarity and A Few Notes For Orpheus; the pop-punk sound is similar enough to the the aforementioned tracks to fit in with the record, but that could be the problem. Against the mammoth tracks that come before, and the huge anthem Breakneck Pace which comes later, they don’t pack the same punch. That’s not to say they won’t still have you nodding along and enjoying the vibe, they just might not have you hitting repeat like others will.

Strangely enough, it is a literal change in pace that pulls you back in. Patterns slows things down, and it is a contrast which works on every level. Written in a way that makes you feel as though you’re reading a retrospective love letter, filled with remorse, it’s intimate and personal but all too relatable. The softer, meaningful performance of such sorrow-filled lyrics makes it hard to resist pulling out a lighter and swaying it side to side.

The track Together In Lonesome gets the crowning glory for a good reason. Living up to its name, it deals with the contradicting feeling of feeling alone when with someone. The song serves as a perfect example of Zanon’s versatility, with whisper-quiet moments and thrashing crescendos, it’s clear the best was saved until last. It’s a belter of a closer that showcases Zanon’s ability to make complex, poetic lyrics sound angst-filled and energetic through his expert delivery and it is sure to go down as one of the pop-punk greats in years to come, along with a few others on the record. And, it wouldn’t be surprising to see big things happening in YOUTH FOUNTAIN’s future once Together In Lonesome is released.

Rating: 7/10

Together In Lonesome is set for release on November 3rd via Pure Noise Records.

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