TEXT ONLY VERSION:

Life can often feel like a lonely path to tread. The daily movements you make your way through, the thoughts that those movements conjure and the emotions that melt into your heart and soul feel unique to yourself, and sometimes it feels like you are experiencing them alone. For Jeremy Bolm, one of the biggest realisations he has had is just how relatable his journey has been to others. Over the last 17 years, he has injected so much of what he has been through into Touché Amoré, resulting in some of the most visceral, violent and vital post-hardcore ever committed to tape. Every grievance, patch of grief and grand realisation has been immortalised in the band’s sprawling, savage and sensational sound, and thousands have shared their gratitude with him for being so open and honest in his pain and potency.

However, the reality is that after five albums and over 70 songs, finding ways to continue down that path without repeating himself as the band approached their sixth full-length had become more complex. Even to the point where repeating a word has become a point of personal contention. Yet in allowing himself to remember what effect his output has had on others, that he isn’t alone in the experiences and lessons he is learning from them, he has found a new clarity. And that clarity is in worldwide connection.

“I want to make sure that I am seeing in myself that I have experienced growth and I have personally changed”, Jeremy explains. “But also, maybe realising the things that I am singing about now that are new experiences to me, and that are also difficult to understand, are also universally relatable has helped. Whether I have sung about grief in the sense of losing a parent or grief in terms of relationships, they do all feel tied together. It’s important that someone can take something new from whatever we are writing about.”

And that is where ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ comes from. An album built on the shared understanding that we are all just trying to show up for those that matter the most at a time when things feel more lost and hopeless than ever before, it is as universally relatable as it gets. Set against a backdrop of sounds that Touché has become synonymous with – jangly chords, throat-shredding yelps, misty atmospheres – whilst still feeling fresh, visceral and utterly demanding, it is yet another masterstroke of deeply human art from one of the most compelling bands in the alternative sphere.

To delve deeper into what makes it what it is, Rock Sound sat down with Jeremy and discovered where he had to go to create such an important document on modern living…

THE SOUND

For Jeremy, over the years, Touché have developed a series of hallmarks that are found on every one of their albums. Creative decisions that have come to define who they are, stretching what is to be expected from them further and further with every release

So when it came to getting together to work on ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’, there were parts that were already on their checklist to achieve. Take ‘This Routine’, a rousing piece of straight-forward anthemics in the same vein as what ‘Reminders’ was for 2020’s ‘Lament’, or the alt-rock jitters of ‘Force Of Habit’ that feel tread in the same waters as ‘Rapture’ from 2016’s ‘Stage Four’. And, of course, there’s the rip and tear of ‘Mezzanine’ and breathless energy of ‘Disasters’, which have so much in common with the ferocious hardcore battery of the band’s early releases.

Every beat is as necessary as the last in creating the density and depth that a Touché record needs to flow. Though in being this deep into their voyage together, and as much of a cop-out answer as he feels it to be, Jeremy just knows that when the band get in a space together, things will naturally slot into place once more, and they can continue to blossom as organically now as they did a decade, and even further back than that, ago.

“It’s just a matter of all of us understanding more and more what this band is, even if we aren’t directly conscious of that. Even though we come from so many different influences and listen to so many different things, this beautiful thing happens when we all get in a room together and start making noise because it’s just our sound. As soon as all the components are there, it doesn’t matter what style of song it is, it still sounds like a Touché song. That cohesion is still present.”

THE COLLABORATORS

Many bands will think that if they return to a producer they have already created something with, they will know what to expect. That’s never the case with Ross Robinson. After working with him on ‘Lament’, Touché knew they wanted to work with one of rock’s most prolific names once more, and the feeling was mutual when they approached. Yet this time, the intensity and attention to detail was turned up to an entirely new level.

“The thing is, Ross is a very unpredictable person. When we told him we wanted to come and work on another record, he said, ‘We’re going to go deeper this time’. And you’re like, ‘Oh fuck, what does that mean’. I would say this record was harder. He’s a very demanding person, and not in a way that he is yelling, but more he is digging very deep to get something. A performance.”

That materialised into guitarist Clayton Stevens being asked to re-record the entirety of a song because, in Ross’ words, ‘It didn’t have the fire’. It meant that when Jeremy added the line, ‘It’s all so devastating’ to the song ‘Disasters’, he was asked time and time again what exactly was devastating as a means of pulling the right tone out in his delivery, a process that actually resulted in him becoming ill from the emotion and stress injected into it. Though it may seem like the results are exactly the same if you were to listen to both versions of these songs, the truth is that when you put your confidence in someone with “a laundry list of life-changing records”, as Jeremy describes it, you need to go along for every bit of the ride.

“I can’t help but completely trust that there is something in that performance that Ross hears and knows that it needs to be. Everything is filtered through what he is creating and searching for, and I will put my confidence in him getting the absolute best out of everyone that way.”

Additionally, ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ features a pair of special guests with deep sentiments for Jeremy. The first is Julien Baker, who returns for her third vocal performance on a Touché record following on from ‘Skyscraper’ in 2016 and ‘Reminders’ in 2020. Approaching with total allowance for her to tell him to fuck off, Julien was honoured to make it a hattrick, and the result on ‘Goodbye For Now’ is as haunting, heartbreaking and beautifully human as you would expect.

“Every time we’ve worked with her, we have just sent her the tracks because she has lived elsewhere, but she happened to be in California, so she got to come and sit in the studio and be side by side and talk out my ideas and then her version of whatever that is. I love her to piece and am so consistently proud of her and the success she has had.”

And the second is Lou Barlow, who appears on ‘Subversion (Brand New Love)’. His involvement came from the realisation that the chorus melody to ‘Brand New Love’, a song by Lou’s band Sebadoh and one of Jeremy’s all-time favourites, could fit nicely into the song’s final crescendo of a melody. Wondering who he could get to sing such a special part, he suddenly felt really brazen and approached the man himself via heartfelt email. The reply was positive, and the song is now a prominent highlight of the record but also further proof of the unifying magic that music carries.

“I still can’t believe it happened,” Jeremy beams. “It’s probably one of my favourite things that has happened with this band. It’s insane that this sort of thing can even happen. Six albums deep and we can make something like this a reality. Music is really goddamn special.”

THE LYRICS

So much of what makes Touché Amoré the band they are comes from how rooted their art is in reality. The pursuit of getting better, finding your footing and understanding what it means to lose and learn from it are all places that Jeremy has found himself over the years and has used the band to try and understand. Though in wondering what ‘Spiral in A Straight Line’ should represent within his personal journey, he has found himself pointing towards just making it through the days ahead. Having to do what we know is needed for the people we love overcomes the existential and foreboding elements of life that we are subjected to non-stop. There is a sense of constant dread that comes with life in 2024: the threat of war, the frustration of politics, the continuous discrimination, and the towering injustices, all available from the comfort of our phones. But trying to do right by those around you while trying to come to terms with how bad things could get is a tricky balance to reach.

“Most days, I think a lot of us are in the habit of waking up, grabbing our phones and then off to the races we are to whatever level of anxiety and stress we are all going to feel. So that was a lot on my mind, coupled with what happened after that moment. Most of us get dressed, walk out into the world, and pretend we’re okay. We have a job to do, someone to show up for, and people who rely on us to some capacity or not to get through the day. It’s this idea that even though everything around you feels messed up and destabilised, you still keep the path and get through everything that you need to get through, be it for yourself or someone else.”

It’s how ‘Hal Ashby’ makes huge dramatics out of misunderstanding we have, ‘This Routine’ reminds us of how the mundane is as vital as the significant shifts and ‘The Glue’ that speaks on what happens when trying to hold things together becomes too much. The juxtaposition of keeping a straight face whilst you’re burning up inside is, most importantly, and as realised for Jeremy during the writing process, a shared experience. When you’re surrounded by others on the train, in traffic or walking down the street, they are all thinking of the same things as you and trying to save face in the same way as you as well. On the one hand, it’s a mental health crisis in action, with millions of people about to hit breaking point at the exact moment. But on the other, isn’t there a comfort in not being the only one?

“No one is unique in these feelings, and that was something else that went into writing the record,” Jeremy adds. “I was pretty aware of it. You talk to anyone, and they have their own way of explaining it. It could be close to how I’m saying it, or it could be another version. For example, you talk to someone who is a parent, and they are going through this, but they have to show up for their kid. It all stems from that same universal dread.”

THE TITLE AND ARTWORK

The idea of spiralling is prominent through every song on this record, of falling apart internally whilst trying to hold it together externally. So, it’s only fitting that it plays a part in the record’s title, resulting in quite the dreary outlook on things. That sense is also reflected in the artwork, but there is lore to be dissected within it. The symbol that can be seen has been with Touché Amoré since 2011’s ‘Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me’. Designed by guitarist Nick Steinhardt, it is a series of lines making a circle, where the top 180 degrees represent the sun, and the bottom 180 degrees represent highway lines. Driving towards the sun, an image of escape, hope, beauty and confusion that has defined the band throughout their adventure.

Having such an iconic image drawn on the window of a car in the condensation left by rainfall almost takes away its power. It becomes ordinary in such circumstances, perfectly representing the ideals and occurrences of the everyday within the album. For Jeremy, for the band to even be in a position where a symbol such as this is still such a pivotal part of their image is truly special, even more so that it can still be such a focus when so much has changed.

“I think we are all fans of when bands have that little something you can point to and say, ‘That’s their thing’. And when Nick came up with the idea of it to be a part of this artwork, he showed Ross and asked if he thought it represented the record and he lit up. It’s cool how the symbol still represents the music we are making and this sense of identity that we have continued to have. It feels like it grows alongside us.”

THE FUTURE

To still be here and doing what they do best is more than a blessing to Jeremy and Touché Amoré. However, the truth is that if it didn’t still feel as fulfilling and exciting as it does now, they simply wouldn’t do it. It’s why ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’ feels so enthralling and luscious; because the band were fully committed to it. And that’s something that will continue to be the case until the very end of all things. So just know that when the next chapter in this band’s gorgeously resilient story starts to get written, they are all in on it in every sense.

“I think that if things felt stagnant, we wouldn’t even consider doing this,” Jeremy concludes. “The fact that we go into each record, or a tour, thinking about ways to make certain things unique will always be a driving force. I don’t think we ever feel like we aren’t searching for a new experience. I always start a process by racking my brain and thinking of certain guests we can have and people we can work with. We’re always wanting to move forwards. I think I’s important for us always to be looking for the next thing to get something out of us.”