“And my honesty may have meant nothing to you, but it set me free.”
fromjoy, hailing from Houston, Texas, have returned with their second LP, fromjoy. Two years following It Lingers, and after much hype surrounding its eventual release, the four piece have seemingly managed to entirely circumvent the dreaded ‘sophomore slump’ stereotype. While I don’t believe this record is necessarily superior compared to It Lingers, the band’s self-titled approaches the ‘fromjoy sound’ from a much more diverse and emotionally driven perspective, to its benefit. Returning to this project after mixing and mastering It Lingers, former Loathe guitarist Connor Sweeney makes an appearance as a feature. Alongside the ridiculously talented, iRis.EXE, who has worked with the likes of Vatican and The Acacia Strain, it’s clear fromjoy are keeping good company here.
With this project’s first single, “docility”, I was unsure of just how much I would enjoy their self-titled effort. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, I just couldn’t get past the track’s mixing style at first. The drums felt too pronounced, the vocals seemed considerably muffled, and I didn’t like the surprise of the pig-adjacent vocals from Damonteal. It’s just not my style, and while it may work for some, I have yet to come around to it. Fortunately, having spent more time with this song, as it is a single, I was able to come to an understanding of the appeal for this cut. It does, however, still remain as my least favorite track across fromjoy.
That being said, almost two months after “docility” came the incredible collaboration between fromjoy with iRis.EXE, “seraph”. The immediacy in exchange between the chugging riffs, and the track’s much more atmospheric moments established within only the first verse had me captivated upon my first listen. Moving into the second verse, iRis’ feature, the delivery is so captivating in contrast to how heavy everything that surrounds it is. The writing in this portion is phenomenally executed too, with picturesque visuals drawn from her lyricism, such as “Like polyester laying flat upon my stomach / How she clings across my skin”. A gorgeous single, and a treat to be given before the release of the full project, I was certainly back on board and excited to hear the record in full after that second single.
I noticed with “seraph”, and the rest of the album, the mixing of the drums juxtaposed to the other elements of each track never took away from their quality, save for the first single of this record. Regardless, the first three tracks of this album dwindled my hope for the whole project. While they certainly weren’t awful, I noticed the lack of character compared to their previous work, as well as what had already been established within this project in “seraph”. The ‘bad’ streak ends quite abruptly on the interlude, “Eros”, however. There soon comes a dramatic shift in the albums quality once delving into the lavishly curated environment this interlude subjects us to. Led by synths and piano keys atop, what I can only compare to, a hyper-speed PinkPantheress-esque beat, I longed for more tracks in this style.
“of the shapes of hearts and humans” begins the reign of emotionally charged melodies and ambience present across the remainder of this album. Even the violent screams on this track that sit beside its elegant cleans are able to retain a sense of delicacy that pulls at the heart and burns the back of your eyes. The chorus on this cut is genuinely outstanding, and contends for one of my favorites from this year thus far. Miraculously, the beauty does not conclude here.
“fromjoy” sees a continuation of this artistry, but it also doubles as the genesis to the perfection that is the final leg of this album. This track manages to maintain a masterful balance of the depression embedded in its lyrics, and the grace of its sonic execution. With lyrics like, “my peace of mind isn’t worth this”, these final few tracks make it evident that there was an ample amount of regard dedicated to these words, and that makes them worth noting.
The second to last track, “Helios”, serves as what I view to be the apex of this cumulative piece. With the saxophone and synths working together to conceive such a serene environment, the guitars and drums are able to seamlessly transition us to the incredible closer from this interlude. The way that the combination of the R&B-esque instrumentation and the continuation of that heavier sound we have been getting this whole project somehow manages to work is almost a complete anomaly, and the track swiftly became one of my favourites on fromjoy.
That brings us to the tenth and final cut of this album, “Icarus”. With a title like that, I expected the song to be larger than life, and man did it deliver. Starting with an entrancing milieu, fromjoy gradually lead us into a medley of blast beats that sound so naturally placed in their progression. That is just before dropping off again into the spacious final two verses that had me in tears. The lyrical content on top of the anguished-yet-inspiriting vocal performance is enough to solidify the placement of this song as the final track. I was left floored by the callback to previous track “Helios“, too, serving to close out fromjoy in a gorgeous flurry of songwriting mastery.
fromjoy are a band that I passively enjoyed prior to this self titled project, especially their 2022 EP, away. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch this group transform into what I believe is closer to their fullest potential, but I am convinced, based on their performance on their self-titled record, that they have only grazed the capabilities of which they have to offer. The latter half of fromjoy seems to serve as just a glimpse into what I see for the future of this band, and I am steeped in anticipation for whatever comes next.
8.5/10
fromjoy releases this Friday, April 28th, via self-release, and you can pre-order the album here.