Arm’s Length explore the power and perils of personal trauma, love and loss in their new album ‘There’s a Whole World Out There’. Primarily written solo by vocalist and guitarist Allen Steinberg (‘the songs aren’t written for anyone else at all’), with input from the rest of the band bringing the songs to life, this is a deeply personal album about seeing light through the dark and navigating some of life’s hardest moments.
‘The World’ opens the album with the declaration (or admission?) that ‘I’ve been watching you in crowded rooms’. This is delivered with passion amidst swirling post-hardcore guitar riffs and military drums. Allen then admits ‘I am self aware, that’s what makes me scared’ – the first of many insights into the fragile headspace he was in while writing this record. ‘Fatal Flaw’ has a touch of Manchester Orchestra in its all-encompassing sound – ‘I didn’t think I’d last this long’ – while ‘Funny Face’ opens with some ferocity before settling into a more emo-driven sound with singalong tendencies and words expressing a desire to find a better life.
Recent single ‘The Weight’ tackles eating disorders by comparing wanting to be physically small with a longing to be insignificant in the wider world – all against an uptempo groove – before ‘Palinopsia’ has moments of self-reflection being delivered against an orchestral backdrop: ‘I was defined by someone I have bad dreams of’; ‘When I catch my breath, I smoke’.
There’s a touch of The Hotelier in both ‘The Wound’ and ‘Halley’, two songs that again examine how it feels when you don’t think you belong in this world and also touches on mortality, the latter’s ‘so scared you’ll get sick’ being delivered with raw emotion. That this is followed by a claim the subject will need someone to take care of them and ‘That’s what I was made to do’ makes it all the more affecting.
The seven-minute ‘Morning Person’ closes the album with perfectly pitched poignancy – ‘You are lost in translation, you are misunderstood’ – and a promise to provide reassurance.
Don’t keep this record at Arm’s Length, it’s on you’ll want to welcome in with open arms.
