Developing their sound even further from 2019’s first full length Restless Heart, Keep Running the American post-hardcore band are certainly following the mantra of that album title. Showing no signs of slowing down – not even a pandemic can stop them – they’ve swiftly followed up with mammoth second record Separate.
And although the subject matter is a little depressing – most of the songs are inspired by guitarist Joe Mabry’s recent and painful divorce and all the fall-out from that – it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s optimism too – rising from the ashes of that darkness and emerging through the other side, not unscathed but still alive. It could even be described as inspirational and uplifting, if you listen to it the right way. There’s hope in the pain; and the lyrics explore emotions, feelings and experiences that everyone will be able to relate to on some level.
Sonically, the band are going from strength to strength and feel incredibly secure in their own sound now. They set out to achieve an ‘all killer no filler’ vibe on this record, and the Florida five-piece have certainly come pretty close. Nearly every song on the record has some sort of unique hook to it. From opener ‘Pretext’ to closing song ‘Decline’, there’s something that captures the listener’s attention, makes you want to bop your head to the beat, sing along to the infectious chorus, or jump up and down in a pit.
“Nearly every song on the record has some sort of unique hook to it”
First single ‘shades of us’ is a perfect example. It opens up with a delicately sang pop melody before breaking out into crunchy metalcore. The chorus is the main hook and a real earworm, repeated often throughout the track to a beautifully constructed melody-line. It’s going to be a huge singalong live, as is the likes of ‘Decline’.
Capstan are one of those band who could easily walk the line between genres and make that crossover to gain wider audiences worldwide. Something like ‘Take My Breath Away//Noose’ is a real surprise to the listeners and a hint of the different directions they could move in if they wanted to. It’s got that Frank Carter type of swagger to it at the beginning, then transforms into a summer drenched foot-tapper. Here, it’s the funky, upbeat bass line that drives the track along. The guitars too, are cheerful and up-tempo, a contrast to the lyrical content. It’s a genuine bop.
There’s some mighty features on the album too. ‘Alone’ has an appearance from Shane Told (of post-hardcore heavyweights Silverstein) and ‘Blurred Around The Edges’ – a quiet, beautiful soaring power ballad – has an incredible performance from Saxl Rose. If you’ve not heard of this virtuoso before, he plays with the likes of Paramore, State Champs and Neck Deep playing, you guessed it…sax.
“Capstan are one of those band who could easily walk the line between genres”
The album loses its way a bit somewhere in the middle and starts to sound a little bit more generic with less of the flair and originality shown in the first five tracks. It picks up and becomes more intriguing again with ‘Sway’, a delicate acoustic number in which vocalist Anthony DeMario duets with singer-songwriter Charlene Joan, an up-and-coming R&B/pop artist who also hails from Florida. With a beautiful, dreamy voice and clearly bags of potential, it’s awesome to see Capstan platforming other artists like this. Her performance on ‘sway’ is haunting and impactful; and should entice you to check out their EP ‘In Spite Of Everything’ when it drops at the end of July. It’s the penultimate track on the album and the perfect way to round off the record, leading nicely into final track ‘decline’.
Overall, this is a confident return to the album stage from Capstan with a sophisticated blend of styles and sounds, ups and downs, highs and lows. It will be interesting to see where they go from here and hearing these songs live will be a must once regular live shows become a more frequent occurrence again.