“Tell me why the past chases me awake?“
With Pryti first releasing their debut record Tales of a Melancholic in 2015, it has been a long journey to reach its follow up, Searching for Now Lost in Again. While the tapping of its debut might still seem present, the sophomore record moves on from the full embrace of the doom and heaviness in metal, drawing on elements of pop, indie and electronica to create a wider and deeper palette of sound. Longtime producer Justin Hill returns, who has worked alongside the likes of Sikth and Heart of a Coward. All this seems poised to level up Pryti’s sound with Searching for Now Lost in Again.
One mainstay is the nostalgic bluesly sound that Pryti has weaved into her sound, opener “Hypnotise” giving a throwback to the early 00s with its fuzzy guitars and drum rudiments. However, Pryti’s soaring vocals offer up something that would have been difficult to come by all those years ago. When it leans into the ballad structure on tracks such as “Prey” and “Satellite“, it rings the memory of tracks such as “Call Me” from Shinedown and “Goodbye” of EarlyRise that would break up and slow the record down. Across all these tracks there is an oozing melancholy present that has a weight and gravity to it that is echoed throughout Searching for Now Lost in Again with its beautiful chord work on the piano.
There is a vocal dexterity to Pryti’s performance, her wonderful range demonstrated by tracks such as “Hypnotise” and “Warning Sign” and “Satellite“. Delicate falsetto moments contrast later with soulful timbre that elevates the track. This performance allows for some of the trope-heavy lyrical content, preventing moments such as “Better leave you in the wasteland” and “No I can’t stop this teardrop” from having an immediate reflex against them. While easily digestible, there is perhaps a yearn for the lyrical content of Searching for Now Lost in Again to match up to the quality shown by the vocal performance itself.
Later track “Battlefield” delves into the pop elements that have been seen from bands such as Sleep Token with “Mine“, and there is also a pop-esque structure to some of the tracks, akin to Young Guns’ work on their 2012 record, Bones. There are pleasant melodies through the track that are layered with beats and synths, but there is also a notable lack of pull to the track that earlier moments had. These return in “Wave“, with a slowed beat acting as the spine. While it is difficult to fault, there is a lack of distinction with its alt. pop elements that is a saturated influence across many genres.
Ultimately, Searching for Now Lost in Again is a solid record that deserves praise for its vocal performance and structure. The emotion contained in the vocals alongside its range carry Searching for Now Lost in Again despite its lyrical content failing to ignite the imagination. With stronger songwriting behind Pryti and further exploration into the pop and electronic elements, there is the potential for something grand to be achieved in the future. For now, Searching for Now Lost in Again will have to act a stop-gap to that potential.
6.5/10
Searching for Now Lost in Again is out this Friday via Welcome To Pariahville, and can be pre-saved here.