Waiting to Spill

The Backseat Lovers

The Backseat Lovers have had a prolonged and wonderful career thus far considering the small amount of music they have put out. Their first album, When We Were Friends (favorite song Kilby Girl) was very successful in expanding their fanbase and launching their growing fanbase. I had the pleasure of seeing them perform live in February of 2022, and that show defined who they are as artists. They played a show unlike most I’ve seen before. The energy of the band was loving and accepting, the energy of the love in the music showed their passion, and the performance in its entirety was absolutely unique. This band made me want more and more. I have very rarely wanted to immediately go see a concert again but if I could re-experience that show I absolutely would.

This beautiful combination of chaos and organization formed in 2018 in Utah. They’ve released a few singles in between their first and second albums, and you can see the control that they took while writing their second album, Waiting to Spill (favorite song Words I Used). Their self-released first album provided wild energy and a plethora of expression of emotions. There was a clear storyline, and even the slower, bluesy songs on the album had moments of falling into some true head-banging rock solos. After being signed by Capitol Records, their second album has a sense of control and forbearance that doesn’t seem characteristic of the band. While the music itself is beautiful and the melodic riffs that are included are nothing less than catchy, they seem to have added a new, more somber energy to their sound. I haven’t written this off as a flop of an album, but an exploration into their potential. There are lots of examples of classic rock that they explore and some Pink Floyd-esque sound which shows a lot of where they get their inspiration from. 

I had the pleasure of once again seeing them live in November of 2022 to perform their new album. This certainly cast a new light on their album and the way it’s translated to a fan’s ears. The genuine emotion that bled through the lyrics and the intentionality behind this album came to light in the live performance of it. This is a band who lets their art speak for itself. While this album doesn’t live up to the hard core rockage of their original material, it does stand alone as a truly spectacular work of art. After signing with a large record company, the original sound of any artist is bound to change and evolve into something different. Seeing the live performance of the love that they put into this album truly put the intention of it at the forefront of the stage. I am curious to see the next journey they take within the music industry, and what direction this new signing will send them. Either way, they have maintained their incredibly loyal fanbase, and will continue to do so as long as they keep making art the way that only they can.