Covering seeds, ideas, loves, fears and hopes, Adults describe their sound as ‘noisy awkward pop songs’ and new album ‘The Seeds We Sow Are Sprouting Buds Nonetheless’ finds the four-piece navigating their way through a ‘world which wants to crush all hope’.
Mae Shi-style vibes signal the start of album opener ‘Dead Red’, a quirky slice of emo pop with a focus on self-awareness and improvement: ‘I’m working on my feelings’. Despite its title, ‘Crying’ has an instantly uplifting intro with Graham Coxon-esque vocals assessing the end of a relationship: ‘We were trying our best, we were trying to talk it out, to talk it through in our heads about our own separate issues’.
‘Northern Lights’ feels like a stream of consciousness being delivered against twinkly guitar hooks: ‘We keep missing the Northern Lights’. ‘Chest Pains’ is an anti-folk song about unrequited love – ‘There’s a funny feeling in my eyes when I catch sight of you’ – while ‘Nine Lives’ zeroes in on the darker side of friendship, albeit amidst Martha-esque janglepop hooks.
‘Going Round the Houses’ opening line states: ‘You sent a letter when I asked you not to do that’ and this personal Art Brut-meets-Los Campesinos tone and wordplay continues throughout: ‘Trying not to hate you like I try not to hate myself and I love you even if you couldn’t learn to love yourself’. ‘Wrestle Me Out’ opens as a synthy interlude before morphing into a sound that (rather brilliantly) recalls Norwich’s indie heroes Bearsuit.
The penultimate ‘Patterns is a breezy, catchy earworm before ‘All Set’ rounds off the record in introspective fashion: ‘I’m sick of second guessing’. With ‘The Seeds We Sow Are Sprouting Buds Nonetheless’, Adults focus on all aspects of growth – from growing pains to sounding massive.
