Guttural and delicate, Touché Amoré juxtaposes the two worlds beautifully with help from Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull on “Limelight.”
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Listen: “Limelight” Ft. Andy Hull – Touché Amoré
“Time doesn’t heal. Love can nurture. It’s okay not to be okay.” Touché Amoré frontman Jeremy Bolm explains as such about the band’s upcoming album, Lament. The album announcement came paired with “Limelight,” the second single from the album after 2019’s “Deflector.” “Limelight” offers something new, however. Something that encapsulates his words with perfection.
The latest single is an amalgamation of two distinct worlds, offering guttural declarations and delicate deliveries in a combined fashion. The result is an emotional toll that will reside within listeners well after each listen, but this feeling isn’t of any form of despair – it’s of an unfettered freedom only gained by experiencing a nonpareil beauty. There is no better song to let it all out to, and 2020 has gained a glimmer of joy with its inclusion.
We sway like brittle branches
One gust and to earth we come
I’m grinning because I know
I’m grinning just because
Taking orders never suited me
Saying no just for the thrill
But tonight we’re moving slowly
While the cavalry moves in for the kill
Moves in for the kill
Moves in for the kill
“Limelight” is a layered experience, one that unfurls second by second. A clean guitar melody and a quiet drumbeat welcome listeners for the early seconds of the song, but soon the drums become emboldened and a bassline enters into the fray. The angst-filled vocals of Bolm join quickly after, and with that, a baseline has been established. These elements on their own, with a Touché Amoré flair, are enough to make for an entertaining tune. “Limelight” does away with any notion of “good enough,” however, and opts for something unrivaled. As the first chorus emerges with Bolm’s signature gruff cadence leading the bellows, unrivaled is becoming all the more within reach.
I’m tired and I’m sore (sore, sore, sore, sore)
I’m not so young anymore (more, more, more, more)
Worn down, but I imagine (sore, sore, sore, sore)
This uniform stays in fashion
A penchant that Touché Amoré carries – beyond the ferocity – is the band’s visceral, honest lyricism. Many of their stories are etched in pain and the result of great woe. As Bolm alluded to with his remarks on the album as a whole, the band has noted that Lament will be an album of growth and understanding with “Limelight” as the leading example. In a statement about the single, the band explained: “When you’re connected to someone long enough, and you’ve both suffered losses and been there for one another, there’s an understanding and a beauty to the quiet moments.” Bolm’s howls are not laced in anger here. Rather, it’s a celebration, and when there is genuine cause for cheer, what better way to embrace it than with stunning outpours of the heart and soul?
We’ve poured ourselves in these sweet white dying dogs
Some nights not kissing
Some nights just because
If we hear a crash
We can only expect the worst
But tonight we’re moving fast
While the party resumes the search
Resumes the search
Resumes the search
After the second chorus, a complete juxtaposition occurs in the form of Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. Hull’s gentle vocal presence – especially on his solo work under the moniker Right Away, Great Captain! – provide him with a unique ability to speak deeply into listeners through what seems like fainted whispers. Personal and quaint, Hull delivers the heaviest hits with some of the softest touches, so, at face value, him lending his talents might seem odd. Until he starts singing, that is.
My head in your lap from the wandering blackout
The touch of your hand, you’re the last one to back out
There’s nothing to argue, there’s only a title
The worst’s yet to come well the worst’s not invited
His additions to the story add a richly textured layer that uncompromisingly boosts the song’s impact. But the moment of highest artistry occurs when Bolm re-enters in the foreground. His backing vocals coalesce with Hull’s delicate presence with such tender, powerful grace that one would be hard-pressed not to feel their heart beating with an uncontrollable fervor. It’s a pairing that one would never expect, but after listening, it’s one whose impression will last forevermore.
I make separate fists while I swallowed the pride
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
I am haunting an old roll of telephone wires
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
It’s not how it was but it’s not getting lighter
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
The weight is immaculate, the depth is inspired
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
It’s let in, eyes tired
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
I hold waste, stop fires
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
I want hope, faith higher
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
I’m lost now, loss tires
(So let’s embrace the twilight
While burning out the limelight)
“Limelight” had no business of enchanting the way that it did. Touché Amoré have proven once again that their musicality and artistry are to be lauded, and their decision to employ the use of what seemed like a polar opposite is no less deserving of that praise. There has never before been such a moving and beautiful collision of two worlds. “Limelight” not only acts as the perfect example of what is to come, but it also serves as one of 2020’s highest points. It seems Lament is already poised to be the band’s greatest release.
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Listen: “Limelight” Ft. Andy Hull – Touché Amoré
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