Pop rock trio Waterparks launched a brand new track, “Guilt (Interlude),” on Sunday, following the cancelation of its father or mother album, Mental Property 2: Misplaced within the Property.
Regardless of already releasing three different singles for this new album, the band made the announcement Friday through a YouTube video, making “Guilt” the ultimate remnant of what would have been their first full-length launch as an impartial band since leaving Fueled by Ramen in 2023.
Within the video, a hooded determine buries frontman Awsten Knight’s physique, with solely his vivid pink haircut remaining seen. This imagery symbolizes the top of the album cycle for 2023’s Mental Property, whose album cowl was an an identical shade of pink. Knight has beforehand established a sample of dying his hair a brand new shade for every album cycle.
Knight defined his reasoning for canceling the album’s launch within the video’s description, citing his psychological well being being affected by spiritual trauma as one of many causes, and claiming the undertaking appeared “haunted.”
”The thought of getting to comply with via with a full rollout, a number of excursions for it, and preserve residing in that place sounds daunting and I’d slightly take a beat and reapproach the following Waterparks album with love slightly than worry and dangerous vitality,” Knight mentioned.
This isn’t the primary time the band has absolutely scrapped an album. The band’s third album was initially set to be referred to as Pleasant Reminder however was scrapped and changed with Fandom in 2019 after Knight opted to begin over from scratch.
The primary distinction this time is that there may be tangible materials accessible to listen to that actively suggests the place the album meant to go thematically and sonically, versus Pleasant Reminder, whose authentic recordsdata had been deleted by Knight earlier than they may very well be launched to the general public.
“Guilt” is primarily a spoken phrase interlude written by Knight. The lyrics function a message, nearly studying like a speech, about how a number of the classes spiritual establishments train from an early age can negatively affect younger folks’s lives.
The monitor ends with a name to motion, imploring the listener to search out their personal energy: “Everyone is a god when you make it out of the property.” This last line is putting, as not solely does it convey the motivational message nicely, nevertheless it additionally implies that the “property” motif closely mentioned all through the earlier album might confer with locations of worship.
The track can also be backed by a primarily programmed instrumental that retains a hip-hop-influenced beat that ultimately morphs into one thing resembling a retro online game soundtrack that overtakes the track till its finish.
Lead single “Soulsucker” begins out as a sparse monitor about Knight’s wrestle to beat his previous with faith, till it explodes right into a reprise of the earlier album opener “Starfucker,” with boosted bass and wailing vocals from a desperate-sounding Knight.
“FAI2” is a reworked model of “Fuck About It” from the earlier report characterised by an elevated digital presence and Knight’s modulated vocals, signifying hyperpop influences.
Moreover, drummer Otto Wooden’s percussion is way more outstanding right here, and visitor singer Zeph supplies a further perspective on the theme of miscommunication, suggesting it’s involuntary for this specific couple. All of these parts present a stark distinction to the unique track’s standard strategy which was extra in step with the band’s pop punk roots.
”Sneaking Out of Heaven” sees Knight utilizing extra heavenly imagery to specific his devotion to an angelic accomplice. Musically, that is in all probability extra tame in comparison with the opposite tracks, nevertheless it nonetheless manages to mix digital sounds with Geoff Wigington’s guitar fairly nicely.
In the end, these songs, notably “Guilt,” make it clear that Mental Property 2 meant to additional discover the theme of faith, honing in on a subject that its predecessor solely briefly touched on. Whereas these show to be amongst Waterparks’s darker songs, making it completely comprehensible why Knight wished to scrap them, in addition they trace at a undertaking that was extra lyrically cohesive and sonically adventurous.