Californian indie-punk quintet Spanish Love Songs’ new EP A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time is their first release in over two years (since 2023’s No Joy, and they did drop a nice Blink-182 cover we featured in 2021!), and is the perfect comforting collection of tracks to ease us into the colder months. Consisting of three previously-released singles, as well as new track “Lifers Too” which features pop-punk icons The Wonder Years, this EP is a wonderful blend of the classic melancholia we are used to from Spanish Love Songs, and a new injection of angst thanks to the collaborating artist in each song.
“Lifers Too”, the opening song and a reworking of “Lifers” from No Joy, kicks off the collection with an upbeat guitar hook and synth beat that almost-successfully masks its themes of hopelessness and anhedonia.
“Cocaine & Lexapro” comes next, featuring a beautiful guest spot from Kevin Devine of Bad Books, and a guitar sequence reminiscent of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”. The tone shifts quite dramatically on this track, with a slower and quieter sound, and the main refrain in the song “who gives a fuck about landing” punctuates some very nostalgic and self-reflective (and a touch self-deprecating) lyrics.
In the third song “Heavenhead”, Spanish Love Songs – alongside Illuminati Hotties this time – once again employ a catchy shiny melody that very nearly hides more solemn lyrical themes. If you’re not paying close attention, you might just miss the profound message about existential dread and the involuntary desire to coexist with the pain life can bring.
Final track “Berlin”, this time featuring Tigers Jaw, closes the EP with some gorgeously familiar 80s-style synth beats that feel like being wrapped in a big hug of neon lights. A song about loving someone who has struggled with demons in the past, the soft and gentle melody of “Berlin” is just as romantically vulnerable and emotionally daunting as anything else in Spanish Love Songs’ catalogue, and is the perfect finishing point to a majestic collection of collaborations.
If you are a Sad Boi Emo like myself, and if you’re a fan of the likes of The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, Manchester Orchestra, or Hot Water Music, this EP is for you.
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A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time is out now
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