For most, growth looks like finding pencil markings on door frames or frown lines or foreheads. For Sloan Struble, growth looks and sounds like his highly anticipated namesake album, Dayglow. Harkening back to a simpler, younger, and more innocent period of life nearly five years ago, Dayglow’s new album is a vibrant callback full of energetic melodies, exclamations and existentialism.
We were introduced to Fuzzybrain in 2018, an alum soaked in nostalgia, despite being Dayglow’s debut. This record included a sonic optimism that allowed some of the more sonder aspects to go unnoticed. In a 2019 interview with Afterglow, Struble has said “a lot of the songs come from that [feeling of isolationism] and from being ready to be in Austin and having change on the horizon. So, it’s mostly just an album of change for the most part — and it just kind of came to me”. Standouts like “Hot Rod” and “Can I Call You Tonight?” were received widely, the latter being certified platinum from The Recording Industry Association of America.
So when listening to Dayglow, there seems to be an invisible string, undoubtedly connecting it to Fuzzybrain. In sounds and sentiments, the two records share a lot of similarities. Tonally, the albums address change and relationships, yet at different points of life. And sonically, the instrumentation has largely scaled back from the synths of People In Motion, and went back to basics.
We start the album off with a high energy rendition of a remastered track from Fuzzybrain. “Mindless Creatures” is an introspective look at the narrator’s past and present as the song calls back melodically and even lyrically to their past self, asking “Who have I become?” The song, originally released in 2017 makes a reappearance, mixed and mastered once again but eight years later. It’s followed by the first single from the album, “Every Little Thing I Say I Do”, including a catchy East Asian riff. The song is an explanation on how to deal with insecurities and perfectionism. “I get up so high / Just to get insecure?” contrasts with the bridge “I get so down, down on myself / I get so do-o-own”. Dayglow’s YouTube has a mini series with titles “How I Made…” that include songs from each of the respective albums, which is how I learned about the East Asian riff, amongst other details in the mixing process, encouraging watchers to create meaningful art of their own.
Following suit is the second single, “Cocoon”, where as to break from one is to be reborn and new, but how this might also be a painful process. As if talking to himself, Dayglow begins with gentle words “Wake up Mr. Glow”. This song later references the track number 8, Weatherman in the third line.
“Old Friend, New Face” and “What People Really Do” are people-centric songs back to back that revolve around the time that we spend around others and the time that we spend…period. Some of the best friendships feel like no time has passed. You train yourself to look at things one way until they don’t look like that anymore, and the same goes with people. “What People Really Do” is a commentary on time passing people by and includes the biggest guitar solo we see so far in the album. Following the chorus the electric guitar sounds sort of like the intro to You Shook Me All Night Long, whether purposeful or not was a fun touch. Similarly paired, “Nothing Ever Does!!!” is the end of a sentence, an acceptance that wishing that things stayed the same does not guarantee they will. Techy and highly electric last minute of the song includes repeated stuttering, a chaotic and panicky way to conclude this song that relates to its theme. “This Feeling” was a representation of success, whereas the pre chorus kind of details how the importance and meaning of success has changed through the years whilst the narrator acknowledges that he hasn’t always been like this. He goes on to say that he “won’t survive, that he’s been working into the morning”, perhaps a commentary on burnout and its tie to being successful. The song culminates in the bridge ending with almost an exclamation of relief ending in “Ah!”
An analogy to the lack of weather’s unpredictability, is “Weatherman”, referenced earlier in the album. A six note sliding up the scale accents the guitar solo and accompanies most of the song, rounding out the three minute track with a halftime until the song ends. He asks “What if you change your mind?”, acknowledging a lack of uncertainty. A direct contrast is a punchy and lovable “Silver Lining”. The song really shines during its bridge: “How she pulls me in / Pulls me over / Like mescaline / Like, holy roller / And then she’ll do it again”, as it goes on to compare her to substances and otherworldly, unexplainable things. The lyrics confess that the narrator never wants to wake up, generally, then goes into more specificity saying he never wants to wake up without her.
Dayglow‘s final track is a testament to something that will eventually heal, despite the trauma and the change. As final tracks do, this one references the album, including “What People Really Do”’s stance on entertainment and passive time as well as back to “Weatherman” with lyrics almost verbatim, “And oh, how can you know?” Full of rhetorical questions, dripping in indie-rock nostalgia and even sounding a little bit eighties towards the end, “Broken Bones” makes it a point to end the album on an optimistic note, and despite life’s turbulences, give hope for the future, “like a flower growing through the concrete”.
Catch Dayglow on tour in North America this fall and listen to the new album here.
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