ALBUM REVIEW: Toxic – Yours Truly
It’s been a turbulent four years since YOURS TRULY released their debut album Self Care. In the intervening years they’ve had setback after setback, including the departure of two band members in the wake of their well-received 2022 EP is this what i look like? that saw them broadening their musical horizons. Toxic then, comes as a direct result of both the grieving and healing process of such upheaval, addressing the painful lessons remaining members Mikaila Delgado and Teddie Winder-Haron, plus new drummer Henry Beard, have learned, making for an often much darker album than YOURS TRULY have produced previously.
Opener Back 2 U is rooted in pop-punk’s close cousin easycore, Winder-Haron’s guitar tone carrying significant weight as Delgado laments the breakdown of a relationship (“If you don’t stick around / Why would I either?”) as well as the initial denial that can come with it. Electronic elements, something they’ve explored since itwill?, are sprinkled throughout, but aren’t a key focus. Similarly, Sour and California Sober act as as a sort of reminiscence of their pop punk roots, particularly the latter with its bouncy chorus even as its lyrics lament a friendship undermined by drug use (“Maybe you’d like me more / If I’d get you high”).
Things get more experimental from there; Let Go is built on propulsive 2000s pop rock, but it’s the midpoint songs All That I’m Not and Love Feels Like that are the biggest sonic departures. The former is a stirring ballad that builds gradually from soft electronic drums to a string-backed crescendo with Delgado providing one of many powerhouse performances across the album. The latter ditches guitar entirely, a liquid drum & bass beat providing the song’s backbone instead. What could’ve started as an interlude is instead transformed into one of their most unique songs to date.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sinking is practically a pop-metalcore track, with the first ever screams on a YOURS TRULY song courtesy of Jono Hawkey of BLOOM. It’s also packing one of the biggest choruses on Toxic alongside the following Desaturated, that isn’t just an earworm but features an arresting Heartsleeve-esque vocal performance from Delgado. All of this somehow comes together in just half an hour; ten songs that tell the story not just of YOURS TRULY’s past and present but lays an expansive blueprint for the future with a myriad of directions they could go in.
The best part of it all is that it’s so cohesive. With reportedly upwards of 50 songs written, trimming it just ten has resulted in a laser-focused album despite its sonic ambitions, one that doesn’t sacrifice the massive hooks they’ve always done best for the sake of trying something new. In trying those new ideas, Toxic could’ve been too scattershot but the unified vision of the Winder-Haron and Delgado, who’ve been there since the start, plus an energetic turn from their new drummer, it’s instead a reminder of why these Aussies are one of the best new alternative bands we have.
Rating: 8/10
Toxic is out now via UNFD.
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