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31. I Love You. - The Neighbourhood (2013)

Alternative

The Neighbourhood exploded into pop music in 2012 with the release of “Sweater Weather”, which became the lead single from their debut album I Love You. The song alluded to the somewhat murky dreaminess that would serve as the primary motif for the album. Airy guitars float somewhere above dark synths that hover like storm clouds. Verses gather momentum and build into towering choruses that wax cinematic. Classic hip-hop sensibilities inspire production throughout the album, most notably on the 808-flavored percussion of “Alleyways”.

Thematically, the album resonates with anxiety and paranoia, conjuring images of hiding beneath the covers from imagined monsters beneath the bed. Singer Jesse Rutherford croons cautiously through the tracks, with his underlying fears and neuroses peaking through with just enough frequency to create an overwhelming sense of uneasiness and impending calamity. These afflictions build gradually throughout I Love You. until the penultimate track, “Staying Up”, which chronicles an anxiety- and nightmare-induced insomnia that is clearly draining Rutherford to the point of desperation. The picture is grim, but it’s beautiful too. The band deftly channels the pain into a compelling soundtrack to their bad dreams. 

*image; cover art for the album I Love You. by The Neighbourhood