SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FROM FIRST TO LAST – WE WERE BLEEDING ANYWAY

FROM FIRST TO LAST
WE WERE BLEEDING ANYWAY
FEARLESS RECORDS

From First to Last has always dared to bleed publicly for its fans, making music that connects with an audience seeking raw authenticity. Their music has never been about perfectionism or emotional restraint – it’s always been about the process of emotional shedding: that moment when you’re at the point of breaking down, and from that moment, a strange sense of clarity manifests from such experiences. With We Were Bleeding Anyway, their new EP, the band approaches new beginnings and leans fully into this ethos. Raw, volatile, and startlingly intimate, this release isn’t meant to revisit the past or every wound within them, but to look back at the ones that hurt most. We Were Bleeding Anyway asks: These wounds hurt then, but if I press hard enough, will the pain still be there?

As a band that always seeks to push past the expectations of genre, identity, and what it means to be emotionally vulnerable, We Were Bleeding Anyway opens with tracks “They Said Your Ghost was A Promise” and the single, “Your Name in Red Ink,” which only strengthens and solidifies the band’s natural talent for rupturing one’s emotional skin with deeply impactful lyricism. While every era of this band has carried varied wounds, each version has kept the same restless start as a footnote to their writing process; this is no different. Lil Lotus only serves to extend those long-standing metaphors and glimpses of nostalgic intrigue, bringing something that sounds beautifully familiar, but also brings a sharpened sense of delivery, one that feels like you are blurting out painful truths through clenched teeth, a feeling that becomes increasingly prevalent throughout the rest of the EP.

“Everything Ends in Silence” and EP highlight, “Picking Clothes to Die In,” continue to bring this gorgeous, organic rawness without sacrificing the intent of what this EP means. This isn’t about a relentless chase to rival or even reproduce the ghosts of old work, nor are they riding the polished, chaotic, electronic coattails of their later work. This part of the album makes you feel something more. Like an emotional punching bag, the intent isn’t so much about the level of impact to the bag, but to punch it so hard you knock it off the hinges that hold it up. Half feral, the other half deliberate, melody and abrasion collide in the best of ways, feeling both familiar and new at the same time. These are great moments on the EP because they show a level of confidence that can be scary and exciting at the same time: a band refusing to choose between the versions of themselves that helped them grow into the artists they are today. The result shows a band that has stitched those two versions of themselves together and, in return, created something jagged, dark, and beautiful.

SPILL FEATURE: OLD SCARS, NEW STORIES – A CONVERSATION WITH MATT GOOD OF FROM FIRST TO LAST

“Hate Me All You Want I Still Got Your…” and “Pale Blue” conclude this amazingly well-crafted EP. Musically tight and lyrically strong, these final tracks show how contrasts, when done right, can move a piece of music in the right direction. As the guitars bring a welcome whetted edge to their music, they twist and turn in myriad evocative melodic directions as they dance around desperate, serrated vocals, grounding the chaos quaking beneath the surface. “Pale Blue” is a great example: its melodic, muscular grooves and rhythmic sections keep such a deeply expressive piece from spiraling into pure aggression and gracefully end an EP built on pent-up emotions.

We Were Bleeding Anyway is a great example of making great music without losing yourself in the process. Electronic elements are used sparingly and feel like creative emotional triggers rather than bathing its organic soundscapes in them. Instead of dominating each track’s soundscapes, they flicker in and out of each moment on the EP like fireflies, creating space for intrusive thoughts and adding musical textures of unease. We Were Bleeding Anyway feels intentionally imperfect: grainy, bruised, and human, where every cracked and frayed element within the vocals and instrumentalism becomes an integral part of the storytelling. It’s no secret that Lil Lotus has brought some of that magic back to their sound, as he understands vocally how to carry weight emotionally, and he pushes some of the lyrics’ most powerful and heaviest moments through to the surface. Drenched in self-destruction, survival, and a somewhat dreamy intimacy of shared pain, From First To Last conveys a vital message within We Were Bleeding Anyway. Sometimes when dealing with hurt, whether it’s already there or inevitable, the only honest thing you can do is acknowledge and try to process it. In this way, this EP achieves that poetic yet very direct purpose.

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