Album/EP

Outloved - Be There For Me (EP Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Oct 13, 2020

7 min read

Outloved – Be There for Me
Released: October 16, 2020

Lineup

Jaydon Colvin| vocals
Michael Beane | guitar
Luke Bakker | drums
Conor Kelly | guitar

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With only four songs released so far, regional Victoria’s post-rock four piece Outloved have already hit some huge milestones many bands have been working towards for years. Hit over one million steams on Spotify? Check. Featured on Dreambound’s Youtube Channel? Check. Signed to a record label? Check.

A year after Outloved dropped their first single, the group are here with the much anticipated release of their debut EP Be There for Me. I was lucky enough to chat with vocalist Jaydon Colvin a few months back (full interview here) and acquired the spicy intel on their massive signing to We Are Triumphant and the EP release. Produced and co-written by Ionei Heckenberg (who is also Ocean Sleeper’s vocalist/guitarist), it’s as clear as day that this EP will be full of sing-along bangers. Honestly, with every song dropped from the boys so far, I’ve become more and more invested and now leading up to the gift that is Be There for Me, I am as hooked as a pirate missing a hand (that was a weird analogy but you get my drift).

Joining Ocean Sleeper on their Melbourne show in November last year, Outloved crushed their live debut in every single way, undoubtedly proving they were a band to pay very close attention to. After kicking the year off with shows in Sydney and Melbourne, they were set to join ATLVS at their single release show in March and then, well 2020 did what 2020 does best, so be sure to add another postponed event to your calendar. Thankfully, Be There for Me has been a knight in shining armour and has vastly improved 2020, let me explain why.

EP opener ‘Loveless’ begins with an eerie presence. Colvin’s unforced, gentle vocals instantly pulling you in to congregate with the forceful impact of chunky guitar. The chorus is explosive and powerful, with passion soaked lyrics ‘I hope you can see me now / I gave you all my love for you to burn it out’ hitting with the weight of a thousand bricks. I can just envision the whole crowd singing along at full volume, fists in the air, spilling drinks on each other. Even though it’s lyrically heavy, this track still creates an uplifting atmosphere and is so god damn contagious.

Debut track ‘Dying to Leave’ carries one of the heaviest themes of all the tracks on the EP. The echoey vocals and pensive tones create an unnerving sense of someone aching to be saved from the misty fog of darkness and despair. It’s a powerful memento to the importance in checking on your family and friends, how so often we may not realise that someone is silently headed down a path of mental destruction. The way Colvin seamlessly glides from fragile vocal melodies to abrasive screams is incredible and adds even more fuel to this fire track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nRGv8AM2Sc

‘Blind & Falling’ undoubtedly wins catchiest chorus of 2020. It’s now hit over half a million streams on Spotify and honestly I think at least forty percent of that figure was from me, I’ve listened to it so many times (to the point where my room mate actually told me off for playing it so often). I love everything about this song, the colourful splashes of guitar, the beautiful lyrics such as ‘Your eyes are oceans I fall in’, the way it just makes me feel giddy somehow, like meeting a new love interest for the first time. The guitar on this track feels more buoyant, elegantly floating over the verses to then meet with an echoey solo towards the end. I really don’t think I’ll ever get sick of listening this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfvfi3iphiM

The emotional thud of track ‘Hurt Me’ still hits just as heavily after the 100^th listen. Outloved have such a unique way of delivering the explosiveness of their choruses. All sound is completely taken away just for a few moments, long enough for you to wonder if you’ve accidentally paused the song. Seconds later when the chorus finally erupts through crashing drums and slamming guitar, it hits you with ten times more force, like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier. The lyrics ask, ‘Do I get stuck in your head?’ And well, the answer is YES. Every single song on this EP is permanently stuck in my head, I am constantly finding myself happily humming one of them without a second thought.

‘Let Go’ absolutely shatters every emotional wall you’ve ever built, so just be prepared for that. Colvin’s angelic highs leave me teary-eyed, covered in goosebumps and in awe every time I listen to it. Sorrowful piano, soft cascading drums and soaring tones paint this picture of a painful goodbye, melodiously washing their way over the canvas. The fact that it’s only two minutes long makes absolutely no difference; you’ll have it on repeat anyway.

Continuing a slower pace, ‘Without You’ feels more on the pop punk side of the road, still building up to an Outloved-sized chorus drawing out to layers of a crowd singing in sweeping harmony. I love that they’ve shown a slightly different side on the closing track, cementing the fact that there’s really not much this band can’t pull off and there truly is something for everyone on this EP.

Cathartic anthems and introspective lyrics allow Be There for Me to elegantly dance through both light and dark elements, creating a shiny beacon of hope. Outloved are so deserving of every form of success and this standout EP is just the start for this extremely talented band.

I am so incredibly smitten with this EP. It’s emotional, explosive, infectious and so damn fun. As far as debut releases go, you really can’t get better then Be There for Me.