2ELISE GRANATA | INKWELL PRESS | ELISEGRANATA@YAHOO.COM

wo minutes and four seconds open Seasons in Verse.

Within this window of song, a melancholy run of notes rises into a crescendo that will set the tone for the rest of the record. This instrumental track, entitled ‘Time Spent Breathing,’ is just a low-key prelude to the comparatively severe opening of ‘Empty Homes,’ where MY HEART TO JOY’s new LP begins to musically sprint.

And there’s not much that can stop it from here.

‘The sound of my own voice/keeps me from falling asleep’ are the first words that launch the record. It’s a line that depicts a tormented individual - a character that Ryan Nelson personifies in his raw vocal presentation.

‘Homes’ is a cross-section of what follows it in the record. But this isn’t

a negative- instead, it gives Seasons in Verse durability. This sort of longevity is necessary in the band’s first full-length, where they departed from their screamo style of yore.

“We started out that way when everyone was listening to Orchid, and now no one listens to Orchid anymore,” stated Greg Horbal, guitarist, “There’s only so much you can do with screamo...it’s an odd genre.”

Including its vocal component, Seasons in Verse is a multi-layered LP. Alan Huck on drums pursues a post-hardcore trend. The rhythm line is packed with rolls and dynamic kicks in shifting time signatures. The drum line gives a foundational strength to the record’s eleven tracks while still allowing the guitar and bass line to poke their heads through.

The guitar riffs on this album are heavily melodic,

and bring relief to material that could otherwise buckle under the twin herculean forces of drums and vocals. ‘All of Life is Coming Home,’ a song also on their previous Virgin Sails EP, contains the “idea carried out throughout the album,” according to Horbal. When the drums hurl themselves through the song, string progressions traverse the staircase of scale. It also has awesome gang vocals. MHTJ utilizes this sort of melody as a tie that binds the whole package together, placing them in a musical niche untouched by the pidgeonholes of screamo or hardcore.

There’s an appeal in this record that’s a lot more personal than individual music taste. It’s a feeling of deep appreciation that material as strong as this came from the local Connecticut scene. Their supporting fanbase is loyal and absolutely nuts with anticipation over the new

record. They’ve transitioned from being self-produced to signing onto a major northeastern label. They’re at the brink of a continental tour. Seasons in Verse isn’t so much a debut full length as it is a realization of the band’s overwhelming vitality.

“They’ve been active and really motivated,” said Kevin Duquette of Topshelf Records, “You really get the sense that they care a helluva lot about what they’re doing and are very conscious of where they’re taking it.”

Vinyl copies of Seasons in Verse are available for preorder through Asbestos Records in black, white, blue and “greenish/bluish/greyish...or something,” according to the site. CD-Rs will be produced through Massachusetts’ Topshelf Records. Official release extravaganzas will take place this weekend (April 10th & 11th) at the Wallingford American Legion.

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MY HEART TO JOY