Insolace – Not Alright (2020)
Insolace have certainly been keeping busy for the past six months. Following two successful single releases in 2019, the alternative rock outfit is showing no signs of letting up. In fact, their new single, ‘Not Alright’, is quite possibly their most intense and cathartic work to date.
Thematically, it’s a natural successor to debut ‘Calm’ and sophomore single ‘Jaded’. Once more, the London based five-piece are attacking mental health battles head-on. Not deterred by the often stigmatised and taboo nature of the topic, they manage to extract something very relatable from their own personal pain. Vocalist Millie Cook has said the lyrics of ‘Not Alright’ convey how behind closed doors a life that may seem perfect to many but is actually far from for the person living it”.
You can certainly hear this pain, and a decent dose of anger, in Cook’s vocals. They simmer with a fierce intensity and attitude as if forged in the fires of punk and nu-metal. It’s the perfect voice for an aggressive and slightly unstable stream of consciousness. What Not Alright tackles extremely well is that sudden and extreme negativity that can creep up on depressives. Even when you can’t quite decipher the lyrics, the pain is felt in her howls of anguish and, like Soundgarden before them, you can tell that Insolace has fell on black days.
Such is the musical intensity and heaviness, the emotional heft of the lyrical message can sometimes be lost. It does seem more of a genre issue though as metalcore often expresses itself through sound rather than lyrics. Rather than wallowing in sadness, it’s a genre that can get angry and defiant. This darkness and despair, with occasional moments of catharsis, is exactly what a mental health struggle feels like. Insolace seems to be capturing that struggle with an unnerving sense of accuracy and experience.
You can discover more about Insolace on their Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Spotify.
