Spanish Love Songs – Future Nausea Review

Spanish Love Songs have always managed to effortlessly bridge the gap between spunky indie rock and melancholic Midwest emo; it’s intrinsically who they are as a band. With catchy hooks, twangy guitar riffs, and creative lyricism, this band have had a solid run of albums so far. With many of us still bumping their 2023 album, No Joy, the band are back with their fourth LP, Future Nausea, which is a bleak look at what the future holds for humanity.

Emo music and the big screen have always gone hand in hand, with many bands often using inspiration shown on the silver screen as a reference for their moody lyricism and coming-of-age stories. Spanish Love Songs are no different, but with this album they’re no longer romanticising what once was; instead, they’re looking to the future, and one that is full of uncertainty and, frankly, it’s terrifying.

This band is no stranger to painting a bleak picture. Songs like Marvel from their last album sing the chorus, “staying alive out of spite”, or the track Optimism (As a Radical Life Choice) from Brave Faces Everyone that references the world ending. So Future Nausea isn’t exactly new territory for the band, but it is the first time they’ve been so unashamedly direct about it.

Lyrically, it can be, at times, a bit of a tough listen, as there are references to the world’s current political unrest, ICE raids, collapsing ecosystems, extreme weather destroying communities, and the fallout from the overwhelming demand for instant gratification, whether from social media or deliveries from same-day shipping. This certainly isn’t an album for people with anxiety for the future, that’s for sure. Though, maybe it could be a source of comfort, as it shows that they’re not alone in that anxiety.

All of this doom and gloom is presented in a package that you can’t help but tap your feet along with. The title track and opener for the album is an upbeat, almost stadium rock record. The term Heartland rock has been thrown around a couple of times for this album, and it makes total sense. Is this a modern-day version of Born in the USA? Quite possibly. Despite the often peppy instrumentation, there’s a level of gravitas from vocalist Dylan Slocum that I always appreciate.

Spanish Love Songs have put together an album that, upon first listen, is a bright, sparkly, head-nodding affair that deserves repeat listens. Not only because the songs are catchy bops, but because each song has a message that really needs to soak in. The album name, Future Nausea, absolutely summarises what a dark future we might face unless something changes.