The name Spanish Love Songs already elicits a warmth and romance that can only come from the vulnerability of intimacy. Thankfully, the Los Angeles quintet that this name is attached to has no problem re-opening wounds for the sake of the brand of heartfelt and cinematic punk-rock that fans have come to expect from them. They’ve no qualms about wearing their heart on their sleeves, often pouring their heart and soul out for the world to consume. This results in some of the most beautiful and personal storytelling to come from the genre in a minute– breathing new life into the groundwork set by storied acts like Against Me! and The Gaslight Anthem.
The band is gearing up to release their sophomore album,which is playfully and ingeniously called Schmaltz, on Anti Flag’s A-F Records on March 30th — and from the first notes of the record, you feel completely absorbed into the universe that’s created by the constantly winding story that’s being laid out in front of us. Today, I’m excited to share the music video for my favorite song to come from Schmaltz— the blisteringly honest and vulnerable “Joana, in Five Acts.”
“Joana, in Five Acts” touches on the sentiment of losing a loved one and how difficult it is to pull yourself out of the funk that’s created by the immediate and jarring range of emotions that comes out of it. The end of the song swells around an emotional upheaval that’s present in the trembling quality of vocalist Dylan Slocum’s repeated delivery of “Why’d you leave without me” before collapsing into a heart-wrenching “Why’d you go!?” that captures what it feels like to grieve like lightning in a bottle. You feel angry and distraught, confused and heartbroken, and feel like you have nowhere to go with any of it.
The video for the song touches on this subject matter in a more playful manner. There are two main settings: the room that Spanish Love Songs are playing in and the world encompassed by the people dressed as ghosts. Those ghosts run around with a frantic and youthful energy — doing a little bit of everything while doing absolutely nothing and eventually joining the band for a solidarity shred. The video for “Joana, in Five Acts” can be seen above.
Schmaltz is out 3/30 on A-F Records. Snag your copy here. The band will head out on a North American tour in early April. Dates for that can be found below.
