Review Summary: I swear I'm really from here
The artists formerly known as People Like You leave behind not only a name, but a history. Before re-entering the scene as Really From, they had released two full-length records and steadily built up a fanbase in the Boston music scene over the course of four long years.
Really From, their first full-length release associated with their new identity, is a record well acquainted with the power of history. Trauma, discrimination, hatred, hurtful conversations looping on replay in your mind — these are the weighty spaces the group find themselves in on this record, juxtaposed against the bright, jazz fusion-influenced brand of emo and indie rock they’ve offered across each era of their career. With each song offering a new and intriguing listening experience,
Really From ends up being a mixed bag in terms of both content and quality. However, its stronger moments indicate scores of potential and have me eagerly anticipating the direction Really From take in the future, provided that direction has a more singular focus.
Really From’s greatest strength is undoubtedly its lyricism, which manages to tackle complex social issues without ever veering into the melodramatic territory that emo lyrics sometimes find themselves occupying. The power and exactitude of Chris Lee-Rodriguez and Michi Tassey’s writing allows the message of the music to sit front and center where it belongs, to powerful emotional effect. The narratives dealing with issues of belonging are perhaps the most gutting of them all; take “I’m From Here” as an example, a harrowing look at the deck being stacked against a young minority child before they even understand the world around them. Isolation once again takes center stage on both “Yellow Fever” and “Try Lingual”, the latter standing out as one of the most powerful articulations of poor communication that I’ve ever read; but it’s “In the Spaces” that manifests itself as the nail in the coffin, a resigned sigh of a track that acknowledges a sinister truth. No amount of assimilation, fitting in, or belonging can ever make that young child whole again. The wounds of trauma may eventually stop bleeding, but they never cease to fester.
Musically, the record occasionally matches its lyrical prowess, but also stumbles on multiple fronts. The aforementioned “In the Spaces” could have ended up as one of the best songs of this year with a more engaging arrangement, instead settling for a highly repetitive vocal melody and run-of-the-mill breezy keyboard atmosphere. Closer “The House” ends the record on an unsatisfying and puzzling note, building itself around a grating “doo doo-doo” hook and a strangely produced acoustic strumming pattern. The magic on the record happens when Really From fully and unashamedly commit themselves to their schtick, combining angular emo riffs with flourishes of fusion jazz. The album’s first two tracks, “Apartment Song” and “Quirk”, stand out as the major highlights for this very reason. The former eases the listener into the album’s environment with a tranquil vocal prelude before blossoming into a gorgeous instrumental, while the latter fires on all cylinders and unfolds into a beautiful brushstroke of a track reminiscent of Britain’s Clever Girl, an act whose disappearance I will mourn for the remainder of my days on this earth. Trumpeter Matt Hull and drummer Sander Bryce shine especially bright on these cuts, propelling them into transcendent territory.
Really From is an important record, and a few artistic choices away from being truly great. I genuinely believe a masterpiece of an album is in this band’s near future, and that its blueprints exist at several points within this record’s tracklist. In more ways than one, it’s exciting to watch this group of artists reclaim their identity, and I look forward to watching them hone the niche they’ve carved out for themselves even further.
