If surgeries on the broken hearts of beaten lovers were a thing, I Stopped Trying on full volume would be blasting from every operating theatre, leaving no false hope as the rate of survival is extremely low.
Leicester based Heart Sauce are finally emerging from recording studios and local music venues to serve us some of their alt post-pop/indie groove. Ellis Turner, Euan Fisher, Dan Peel and Jack Dearden put together an avant-garde sound that’s bursting with a kind of jolly cynical melancholy almost The Growlers like but with an extra ambiguously dreamy dimension. As bittersweet as we like.
Even though Ellis’s vocal blends in with a mellow melody, it’s not bland, but channels all the despair and disappointment there is to it. For contrast, the instrumental, every so often, shines through the lyrical gloomy aura with bright notes and cheeky riffs in perfect harmony.
‘You don’t even control it, so I stopped trying’ the first lyrics go along to the playful indie beats as they were to overturn the sadness rooted in the core of the track. It’s a love letter from someone who’s done waiting, done fighting. Tearful praise of the golden past which the comeback is as questionable as the other half’s devotion. It’s the battle of romance against the reason. The question ‘How can you go back from this now?’ leaves little hope.
Maybe the era of hopeless romantics is over. Maybe there’s no point going back.
The track is released on August 20 on streaming platforms and will be available on Heart Sauce’s social media.