Sorry makes me mad. It should not be allowed for one group of people to be as unnecessarily talented as they are. ‘Anywhere But Here’ is further proof of that enviable and infuriating skill. From front to back, it’s both dark and vibrant, exhilarating and heartbreaking. Sorry have truly used every color in their emotional and creative palette to paint an auditory and visual masterpiece that’s representative of coming of age and all the accompanying pains and joys. Easy contender for album of the year.
Starting off with one of the best songs I’ve ever heard, “Let The Lights On” shows Sorry at their most fun and spilling over with wild abandon. There is hope and optimism to the track that rivals the dance club anthems concocted by the likes of Robyn. If “Let The Lights On” takes place in a sweaty club, “Tell Me” is the 4AM comedown outside on the way home. Louis O’Bryen’s words hang in the air before being accompanied by Asha Lorenz and an almost ominous ushering in of instrumentation. Contemplating the past, where they are going, and what is to come are themes of the song that carry throughout the rest of the album as well as the two delve into love, heartbreak, and the tug between permanence and what is temporary.
London appears in full force as a main character, most notably on “Key To The City” — a character whose force is as overwhelming and all encompassing as an ex whose memory haunts and taunts you at every turn. “Willow Tree” features the carefully crafted faux naiveté of Lorenz as she and O’Bryen duet on a nursery reminiscent track with Sorry’s signature darkness embedded. “There’s So Many People That Want To Be Loved” balances romance with stark reality. On the surface, it appears optimistic, but is ultimately very lonely, even with the inescapability of being constantly surrounded.
“I Miss The Fool” clings to memory — I can’t see your face, but I can in this song — in love with both the fool and the version of the person the protagonist was with them — tender and coarse… empty, but free. “Step” grapples for restraint at the brink of coming undone. Again, it’s about creating a space within a song for a person or ideal reality to exist within.
Another standout is “Closer”. A typical one step forward, three steps back conundrum, it’s about being trapped between who you’ve been, who you are, who you are becoming, and if any of those people are who you want to be. “Baltimore” opens with getting hit on the head and is appropriately disorienting. “Hem of the Fray” opens in a dismal motel and spirals with how harrowing and apparent your own isolation is in that setting — No one is coming for you at the end of the day. It almost feels like a smack in the face to be hit by the cheerful jeering of “Quit While You’re Ahead” right after. Closing out the “Screaming In The Rain”, the listener is left with a sense of alienation and loneliness. After the rollercoaster of ‘Anywhere But Here’, through different relationships, characters, and cityscapes, the listener is left alone. Maybe we were alone all along.
Musically, the album is stunning — the mix of grunge and pop and trip hop is captivating and earwormy. What is maybe even more striking are the emotional chords that Sorry plucks so vigorously, thoughout. It’s an album that you feel with your whole heart and body. While the band goes through their own journeys, so does the listener. It rips your heart out, but you know you can piece it back together again, even if haphazardly.
‘Anywhere But Here’ is out tomorrow via Domino Records. Catch the band on tour at one of the dates below this fall