Slowly Slowly’s New Album ‘Forgiving Spree’ Delivers Anthemic Indie Rock with Raw Emotion and Resilience
“Forgiving Spree”, the new album from Australian indie-rock heavyweights Slowly Slowly, is an project that does not just speak — it confesses, exclaims and aches in the most anthemic way possible. Across each track, the group carves their emotional and sonic development into the listener’s psyche for a body of work that is introspective yet invigorating. This fifth studio album is a testament to the raw power of resilience, a sonic journey that crystallizes the essence of navigating love, loss, and self-reclamation.
At its heart, “Forgiving Spree” is an album about refusing to be just another rock record — it’s an exploration of experience, streaks of emotion that come together to form something that's at once both intimate and stadium sized. Frontman Ben Stewart’s direction was clear: to craft a solid, no-filler rock album tailor-made for the stage. And indeed, every track here is a viscerally exciting, even audacious, demonstration of that ambition. The album pulls from a phalanx of influences, from the anthemic, stadium-rattling gravitas of The Killers to the earnest, Springsteen-like storytelling that weaves nostalgia and forward momentum side by side.
First, the title track, “Forgiving Spree”, opens the album with poetic precision, setting the thematic tone. The lyricism is visceral and unyielding, unraveling a personal reckoning that’s encased in a pulsing, stadium-ready arrangement. “I wanted neon but I got the streetlights,” — he croons, a turn of phrase that sums up the battle between dreams and reality — a theme that runs throughout the album.
From there, the energy escalates with “Gimme The Wrench”, an anthem predicated upon tension and release. The track’s crunching guitars and strident delivery also give it a call to arms quality, a song that lives in its push-pull dynamic. Then comes “How Are You Mine?”, a song that plays to Slowly Slowly’s strength to combine poetic introspection with an electrifying indie-rock tang. The song radiates existential wonder and lines of self-interrogation, buoyed by surging melodies that shout to be sung at full volume.
“Hurricane”, one of the album’s most emotionally charged moments. It’s a song that spins through the cyclone of love, grief and endurance, capturing the eye of a storm both figurative and literal. The narrative storytelling here is cinematic, capturing the chaos of life with lines that cut through the sonic whirlwind.
Then there’s “All Time”, a time-bending track that offers a love story that spans generations and universes. It’s a song that feels, in its delivery, almost mythic, mismatching propulsive instrumentals with lyrics that feel like coming echoes from a previous life.
Halfway through, “Love Letters” takes a moment of tender vulnerability. It strips away the sonic bravado for something more delicate, more intimate — an ode to unsaid things that find their way to permanence. “That’s That”, by contrast, snaps the album back into anthemic territory; the biting lyrics and sharp hooks are a cathartic release of frustration and clarity.
“Meltdown Masquerade” descends into chaos and catharsis, its frenetic energy reflecting the internal struggle of self-doubt and external expectation. The song’s biting pace and jagged instrumentation play like a frantic attempt to escape a cycle that appears endlessly recurring. It’s an unvarnished release of emotion, and it cements the album’s refusal to candy-coat its themes.
The last song on the album “Born Free”, a powerful reflection on identity and liberation closes the album. The song builds slowly, swelling into a triumphant final movement that feels like a long exhale after a long, difficult journey. It crystallizes what this album is, a record not simply about enduring hardships but about crawling out of them with new perspectives.
Slowly Slowly have long had a gift for blending raw emotion and infectious melodies, but Forgiving Spree takes that ability to the next level. Musically, the album is a master class in dynamic contrast, as every song’s verse adopts introspective lyricism before exploding into a crowd-ready chorus. The production, overseen by a heavyweight crew that includes Courtney Ballard and Suzy Shinn, guarantees that every note, breath and sonic detail lands with cinematic clarity.
In addition, the album rejoices in its deep personal yet universal resonance. Stewart’s lyrics may address the listener, but they are equally about his own travels. There’s a sort of unspoken invitation that’s threaded through each track — the invitation to feel deeply, to reflect and ultimately, forgive.
Forgiving Spree is not just another indie-rock album. It’s a thunderous, vulnerable, exhilarating ride through the complexities of the human experience. It is alive; it is with loss; it is with the everlasting hope that no matter how many times we fall, there is always a path back to redemption. And maybe that’s the album’s ultimate victory — it doesn’t merely present a narrative, it integrates itself with your own.
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