Review Summary: This time, love is enough.
Change is inevitable in life. One constant that remains however, is our ability to love. When we are young we want to believe that our lives have a grand design, that our existence on this spherical rock floating endlessly in outer space has meaning. Finding purpose is difficult, but through the power of love and understanding we can find out what it means to be alive. For UK based melodic hardcore band Casey, music is their labor of love.
Spearheaded by vocalist and lyricist Tom Weaver, Casey is a remarkable band that does not shy away from dissecting our deepest insecurities as human beings. Weaver is an absolutely incredible lyricist and he has always proven to write some of the most emotionally profound words ever penned in regards to tragedy. There is a sense of honesty and passion in his candor that doesn't come off as contrived and phony like with many "emo" bands. Bursting onto the scene in 2015 with their debut EP
Fade, the band would bare their teeth and establish themselves as a fierce melodic hardcore band serving as a voice of the broken hearted. Bittersweet in hindsight,
Fade would not mark the end of Tom's post-relationship blues as the band would make a definitive statement with their emotionally devastating debut LP
Love Is Not Enough. A vessel for Weaver to express his sheer emotional agony caused to him by an estranged lover,
LINE will tear your heart into a million pieces and never piece it back together. "All the things I thought that I'd miss, your perfume and your sun kissed skin. Turns out they meant nothing all along."
A magnum opus if ever there was one,
LINE set the bar sky high for Casey and following sophomore LP
Where I Go When I Am Sleeping would introduce a more atmospheric, dreamlike approach to the band's formula. Unfortunately towards the beginning of 2019, Weaver would come out and state that he no longer had any creative investment with the band, and he would move on to other endeavors. With only three releases under their name, it appears as though the blood in Casey's veins had run cold and it was time for them to bury their love. Or... was it?
How to Disappear. The third full length album from Casey is finally here, a new chapter to add to the story of Tom Weaver's life. So, how has the winds of change effected the band since their last offering over half a decade ago? Well, let's lay it all out there right away. Those who are anticipating an intense melodic hardcore record will ultimately walk away from
How to Disappear feeling disappointed. As fate may have it, Casey has almost entirely abandoned their hardcore elements on this record and have evolved into more of an emo tinged post-rock act with traces of their hardcore roots reminiscent of Pianos Become the Teeth's shift to lighter pastures on
Keep You.
Opening tracks "Unique Lights" and the depressingly titled "I Was Happy When You Died" present a much more delicate, pensive approach built off of twinkly guitar passages and massive drumming courtesy of the incredibly talented Max Nicolai. Above all though, Weaver's soaring clean vocals have taken the main stage this time with occasional harsh vocals used only when tasteful and necessary. Theme-wise, Casey has always been a conduit for Tom to express his pain in life and
How to Disappear is no different. Whereas
LINE focused primarily on the loss of romantic connection and
Where I Go... reflected on Tom's depression and 8 year episode of being mute,
How to Disappear explores themes of death and how to cope with grief as well as residual sentiments left in the wake of separations - whether it be what remains after the fallout of a relationship or the loss of a family member. The presentation here is much less urgent and dramatic, as lead single "Puncture Wounds to Heaven" establishes the record's general demeanor of being more melancholy, yet gracious with Tom's newly utilized falsettos and guitarist Tobey Evans' floaty riffs and chord progressions. Where
LINE suffocates,
How to Disappear allows to breathe. Not to say the album isn't any less emotionally impactful, as "Sanctimonious" and "Bite Through My Tongue" reflect back on what Casey does best with their intense melodic hardcore callbacks and incredibly catchy choruses. For the most part though, the album graciously floats along through the aether led by Weaver's soaring cleans and dreamlike song structures akin to
Where I Go... most particularly found on the spellbinding "Space Between." The band dabbles in a few new tricks too as "St. Peter" and "Blush" incorporate somber piano passages and more raw presentation. The most shining highlight on the album however, closing/title track "How to Disappear" brings the album's themes full circle with arguably Weaver's most triumphant chorus yet belting out "When all I want to know is how to disappear, without leaving you to worry about me."
Casey is a band that has undoubtedly bared its soul for the world to see, and reminds us that it's okay not to be okay. Within our struggles, anxieties, and worries lies a seed of hope and love just waiting to blossom. Through all the misery, our struggles ultimately make us more compassionate people. And for Casey, this time love is enough.
