Album review by Sara Rose
The Veronicas have released their 6th album, being the first album for the Australian twin duo in an entire decade, called Gothic Summer. The album name was instantly intriguing to me and after the first listen through, it makes complete sense. There are some darker lyrics in here that point to change in life, moving through realities and reminding everyone to just be who they are and live your life without worrying about opinions of others. The meaningful lyrics are mixed with great dance beats that The Veronicas are known to include in albums, so they are catchy and fun but if you listen to the lyrics, they have a much deeper meaning than the surface shows.
I first listened to Gothic Summer in my car and even my metalhead husband enjoyed this album. If you care to know, his favourite track is ‘Jungle’.
The opening track ‘Perfect’ (which also features as an acoustic version as the closing track on the album) really hits on the social need to look fabulous and have the coolest, most expensive things, except that the lyrics are saying that is trash and we should all be our messy, non conforming selves, which personally I love. My favourite lyrics from this song are “I’d rather be a fucking mess than stable” and “Fuck designer, start a riot”.
‘Detox’ is a fast and catchy track, which instantly gives me the vibes of the moment someone decides to dump their horrible boyfriend in a rom-com and has their revival and coming into themselves again. A big shout out for the Australian accents coming through in some lyrics in this album. On this track namely “I think I’ve overdosed, I’m not dead but I’m coming close”.
The third track called ‘Here to Dance’ really starts the gothic imagery for me. The opening lyrics of “Blood on the floor, look what they started. Hungry for more, they’re spitting garbage” gave me the vision of darkness but a room full of people dancing together in a macabre fashion. The chorus of the song says “I don’t care who’s watching, I’m just here to dance” really hits on what the song is truly about. There will always be people to judge or talk about you, but you just have to ignore it and live your own life. Don’t buy into what other people’s drama and just enjoy yourself.
Surprisingly and unexpectedly, Kerser features on the fourth track ‘Savage’. The song is very relatable if you have been in a relationship (platonic or romantic) and they are someone that cannot be trusted. I think most of us have had that experience at some stage in life and the lyrics “You go telling everybody I’m a psycho, but I already know that you’re lying through your teeth while you’re lying next to me” sums the entire track up pretty well. Kerser’s verse is a fantastic edition to this track and really adds more depth and perspective about the true colours of people. You can still have an empowering dance moment to this track, because you can really belt out the lyrics and let those emotions out if you’re currently dealing with this or still hold those feelings about someone. It’s the kind of track you would sing in your car on a late night drive.
The next track ‘Invisible’ feels like a conversation you would have with yourself. It instantly made me a little emotional because I have and still do sometimes have many moments where I make myself feel less than or try to be invisible (despite the fact I have bright coloured hair, tattoos and piercings…the irony is not lost, trust me). It just feels so relatable and is the kind of song I would sing in the shower to remind myself it isn’t just me that feels this way and The Veronicas really hit home with these lyrics. Something as simple as “Cause you make me feel, you make me feel … invisible” seems like it’s about a struggle you have within yourself about your self worth and confidence in the world. This is a song I will listen to a lot in the future.
‘Ribcage’ is my personal favourite song from Gothic Summer. It is emotional, strong and full of gothic imagery that makes this such a powerful song. I could write a review just on this song, but I would encourage you all to listen to this song and feel the journey it wants to take you on, because that is exactly what it wants to do. The last almost spoken of line “a heart that could love you so bad” sounds to be on the verge of tears and it captures the feeling of the entire song in that short moment.
Rounding out Gothic Summer is the track ‘Jungle’. This song is really funky and has some surf rock influence that also reminds me a little of the B-52’s. At first glance it just seems like a cool track, but the verses are almost individual whacky fairytales about life. The lyrics “Life ain’t always fair, it’s a jungle out there” are now stuck my head, but it’s a nice little reminder about life so I don’t mind humming that to myself throughout the day.
The songs on Gothic Summer are on a different level for me than other The Veronicas songs I know. From the first listen through, there are so many relatable lyrics, mixed with real life feelings. It captures going through life and the hidden difficulties that come with navigating people, drama and change. I would recommend listening to this and really listening to the lyrics. I have one question to finish up the review; If metal bands can now be girly pop, than why can’t metalheads like The Veronicas?
Trick question, they already do, or have you not seen the circle pits the metalheads start at music festivals when The Veronicas play!?
Gothic Summer is out now.
