Overgrow "Hear Your Voice Again" Review
It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a year from hell for almost everyone in the world, especially those working in the entertainment industry. With concerts and touring at a complete standstill, musicians are turning their attention to the studio. Luckily for fans, that means that 2020 has been chalked full of all kinds of new music from their favorite artists.
With all this new music, people might have a hard time picking their EP of the year. At least they will until they listen to Overgrow’s new EP Hear Your Voice Again. This EP is hands down the perfect embodiment of 2020. Words don’t do justice to the way this EP feels, but it’s sweet, melancholy, upbeat, sad, and comforting all wrapped up into one hefty package.
The opening track of the album, New Light, starts off with this ethereal feeling laid behind a soft guitar and vocals that crescendo into a vibrant, hopeful song. The line “there’s color in my eyes again for the first time in a long time” hits especially hard thinking back on all the events of this year. There’s a feeling and sense of sadness at the beginning that melts away with a burst of melody and drums to leave listeners standing on the edge waiting for more.
The next three tracks, Hang Over Me, Say Nothing, and Broken Things, continue to fill out this melancholic painting of grief and loss. Hard hitting drum tracks over a sonorous guitar and vocal melody guides listeners from track to track with lyrics full of what can only be described as optimistic sadness. With lyrics like “I wanna feel better I’m just stuck here most days” driving home that sense of longing and pain.
My personal favorite track off the entire EP has to be Unraveling. “I wanna put in the work, I wanna try my hardest, I wanna stay stable, I wanna get better” and later “I’m ok im just a little sick.” Hearing those lyrics is incredibly validating for anyone who has struggled with grief or mental illness.
The album finishes out with a stripped-down song Spin and the lilting title track Hear Your Voice Again. Spin is a gorgeously written tale of love and longing. It’s easy to hear the love that went into the music, from the lyrics, to the soft strums of the guitar, to the adoration in the vocals bleeding right into the last song. Hear Your Voice Again is the bow on this beautifully woven present. It finishes the picture of a grief-stricken individual searching for the light; the hope and yearning for better days that’s prevalent through the whole album comes to a head in this song. It’s no wonder it’s the title track, it’s perfect in every way.
2020 has been an absolute year from hell. Listening to Hear Your Voice Again was being wrapped up in a hug with your best friend after a good cry, it’s all the sadness, sense of loss, rebuilding, and growth of 2020 all wrapped up into seven beautifully written, performed, and recorded songs. There’s no doubt that this EP will be listened to and loved for years to come.
