To early adopters of the emo movement, circa the early 2000s, the passage of time may have rendered the genre into a quaint relic of adolescence. Over time, listening to a bleeding heart longing for emotional salve loses its luster. Then, adulting becomes too much and, all of a sudden, you’re now an elder emo who’s numb to the world. Los Angeles-based alt rock band Love Ghost hits the emo sweet spot with their latest single, “Homesick.” On this track, Love Ghost serves up delightfully drab, acoustic rock for the real world.
“Homesick” is built upon the feeling of having your soul submerged in a sea of sorrow. In a nutshell, it’s a sound bath of regret. However, instead of drowning quickly in your own tears, it is a slow drift into a high viscosity slurry of your setbacks. With the exception of cranking up a more serrated, emo rock edge towards the end, “Homesick” wants to prolong an aura of mental haze caused by endless reflection.
Reflected in how the vocals, led by Finnegan Bell, languish in their own misery, “Homesick” is set in an endless loop of squandering its senses. Whether it’s referencing being way too under the influence or being hopelessly lost in thought, the common thread is being at the mercy of your own devices. It’s about self-inflicting pain and unwittingly spreading your affliction among those closest to you. Frankly, it’s about the pits of realizing that you’re the problem, but not having the ability to troubleshoot it.
“Homesick” is quintessential emo, but doesn’t venture so far as to over dramatically lament what ails them. By doing so, it allows Love Ghost to present a more nuanced way of wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Written by Travis Boyer
FOLLOW LOVE GHOST:
