![]() ![]() It’s sombre, mournful, steeped in regret, with a little nod to FUMF: “Another person you fucked up”. Maybe I’ll get it right next time: “I’m nearly up in heaven – it’ll keep on coming round again.” I fall in and out of love quite easily and in fairly regular cycles, often head over heels into relationships I know might be damaging. I guess the key theme is the power of love and how it can be such a life-affirming and destructive emotion at the same time. “Sanity’s calling – he knows I’m sitting proud on the edge.” Madness is a subject I’ve always written about, but rarely as poignantly. It’s like my subconscious was warning me against fulling committing to a love which seemed to have a sinister tint. The most harrowing element of this song is how prophetic it became upon reflection. However, it feels too good to be true and a strong sense of doubt creeps in: “you’ll never be mine so you’ll never be alone again” – the protagonist is suggesting he’s not mentally fit to undertake such an impassioned romance. This song is about falling in love so deeply and so quickly that one enters a toxically intense state of emotion. Everything That Makes You Happy is acceptance of our darker side, and the celebration that something meaningful can come from even our most hopeless moments.īen Gregory shares a track-by-track analysis of each song on Everything That Makes You Happy below, giving more insight into the stories, feelings, and themes that shape Blaenavon tremendous sophomore album. It sounds beautiful, urgent, transparent, at times so intimate that it feels wrong to be inside Gregory’s head, but ultimately it’s easy to recognise what a privilege and gift it is to be privy to this project. Blaenavon are known for their lush songs and poetic lyrics, and their top-notch songwriting sensibilities, intertwined with the chaos of existence results in an album that’s a terrific depiction of the drastic ebbs and flows of human nature and mental health struggles. It’s been a long road to Everything That Makes You Happy, but its sheer existence is meaningful. There’s no way to listen to Everything That Makes You Happy and not undergo an emotional transformation in the less than 40 minutes the album runs for. The album ends with an emotional purge, a shedding of the skin, a high point that leaves you buzzing, all in exact opposition to the darker, more haunting sounds that open the record. It’s frantic and lively sonically, but possesses an irony and self-motivating quality that complements the almost mumble-like vocal delivery which grows to a cathartic crescendo. The tension between external and internal forces in Gregory’s life are heard on “ Fucking Up My Friends”, an upbeat pop song about how your mental state can affect even your closest relationships and on the theme of breakups and heartbreak that is peppered through the album on the gorgeous “ This Song’s Never Gonna Be The Same”, ode to Lorde “ Skin Scream”, and “ Quiet In Your Heart / Alone In Love”.īut this friction is perhaps most acutely depicted on album closer and title track “ Everything That Makes You Happy”. In the midst of this internal, personal strife, also came the reflections upon how what he was going through was influencing those around him. ![]() “ Sanity’s coming, he knows I’m sitting proud on the edge” became a prophetic lyric, written prior to Gregory’s stress-related breakdown. Blaenavon – Everything that Makes You Happy Album ArtĮverything That Makes You Happy, released today via Canvasback Music, was born out of inner conflict, a struggle with self, as frontman Ben Gregory was dealing with mental health issues he detailed in an open letter to fans earlier in the year. Take, for example, album opener “ I Want You”, that is a selfless declaration of love but also feels like a song about heartbreak, or the absolute sonic euphoria of “ Catatonic Skinbag”, a self-deprecating chronicle of what it feels like to be deeply depressed. If Blaenavon’s debut album That’s Your Lot took us on a smooth journey from light to darkness, their sophomore record Everything That Makes You Happy makes the extraordinary case for mashing these opposing forces together constantly.
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