Review Summary: Home is where the heart is.
Scottish trio The Xcerts have always worn their hearts on their sleeves. Since 2001, they have unapologetically specialized in a dynamic and grand brand of alternative rock which can be most fittingly described as equal parts emotionally honest and undeniably hooky. While the band formed just past the turn of the century, their debut full length,
In the Cold Wind We Smile dropped about eight years later in 2009. Since then, the band has released four additional albums, numerous extended plays, and various stripped and slowed covers fearlessly spanning varied hits such as Green Day’s “When I Come Around”, Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated”, and Len’s “Steal My Sunshine”. Point is, The Xcerts have been grinding away for years just on the periphery of modern rock’s glowing spotlight, and, in no uncertain terms, their outrageously underrated discography is one of modern rock’s hidden gems.
If forced to choose, 2018’s
Hold on to Your Heart was the band’s crown jewel, perhaps, until now.
Hold on to Your Heart was a 36-minute rockin’ rollercoaster full of euphoric highs, plummeting lows, and wild twists and turns propelled by love, lust, heartache, and heartbreak.
Hold on to Your Heart’s ruby red cover perhaps inadvertently captured the seemingly rose-colored glasses perspective on life at the time through the eyes of frontman Murray Macleod, bassist Jordan Smith, and drummer Tom Heron.
Nevertheless, if
Hold on to Your Heart was an innocently naïve, though well-intentioned stumble through the peaks and valleys of young romance, the follow up, 2023’s
Learning How to Live and Let Go was a wild, anxious, and gutsy unravelling of the aftermath. Songs were noticeably shorter, experimentation was fully embraced, and emotional expression was cranked to eleven. While the trademark Xcerts songwriting was still present, the bold electronic elements, wild unpredictability, and increasingly fleeting song lengths made the album much trickier to immediately accept compared to the less demanding, more formulaic, and sickly-sweet predecessor.
Almost three years later, The Xcerts return with their sixth full length album,
i think i want to go home now., referred to from here on out as
itiwtghn. It is an album that builds on the strengths of past releases and wraps them up into the band’s most complete and authentic offering to date. After a brief minute-long introduction from Murray crooning the album’s title over distant piano, listeners are greeted with the bright guitar strumming of lead single, “do it to myself”. The song is a propulsive confessional centered around the frustration that accompanies self-sabotage and features the album’s first of many outrageously catchy choruses. Two thirds of the way through, the song quiets down with Murray almost hurriedly and anxiously singing,
“Will it always be like this?” His frustration boils over with a cathartic scream as the song winds to a close.
Despite trying with the opener, words cannot adequately convey the cleverness and diversity of the songwriting throughout the album. For example, “wow” opens with hushed acoustic strumming before repeatedly exploding into countless screamed WOW!’s which weaponizes dynamics into something both captivating and electrifying. “Sinking feeling” flashes a sneaky, tasteful guitar solo and the bruising chorus has those jangly, grungy guitar chords band like Superheaven salivate over. “Bury You” is a self-directed pep talk complete with a determined and driving chorus and irresistible snare smashing from Heron. “Rinse repeat” is a yearning, earnest ballad which unwraps the cancer diagnosis of Murray’s father and a romantic relationship crumbling at the same time. “Pretty ugly” is about as snarling and punkish the trio has dared to be and ends with a massive breakdown complete with cheerleaders spelling out the song title while Murray yells his heart out. “Dream you in” is a delicate, floaty reverie which could have easily appeared on Jimmy Eat World’s
Futures and Murray has a
“head full of bubble gum and a heart like a loaded gun” and a
“soul full of bellyaches and a taste of past mistakes” on the aptly titled, “losing it” – a song full of black-eyed resilience and hooky background vocals that increase the camaraderie. Every song on
iwtghn. has a meaningful place and each one acts as a glimpse into the immensely challenging time when they were written. Every “woo” feels like a relief, every scream feels like a necessity, every dramatic pause feels compelling, and all the emotions expressed feel well earned.
The magic woven within The Xcerts’s sound is their ability to channel all their moods into over-the-top, guitar-driven melodrama. As “in your eyes”, a poignant tribute to the passing of Smith’s mother, blooms from a heartfelt apology into a massive crescendo that should be far too powerful and moving for a mere three men to generate, Murray belts,
“This isn’t goodbye/This is/I’ll love you forever.” iwtghn. both serves as a literal graceful return to the steady foundations of the band’s sound and figuratively represents the licking of wounds, untangling of trauma, and the navigating of grief that comes with goodbyes. Give
i think i want to go home now. a shot. Chances are you will contemplate, smile, headbang, and very possibly cry. Turns out, home is where the heart is after all.
