Wow. We knew Sworn In was coming out with some new music, but this is mind-blowing. The album (All Smiles) is releasing on June 30th and of the eleven tracks, the first is “Make It Hurt”. Sworn In released “Make It Hurt” with a music video today.
Vocalist Tyler Dennen has made no secret that the new work of Sworn In is deeply personal, sharing details along the way of the painfully honest introspection that’s gone into this. On Twitter, Tyler shared that “All Smiles is an auto-dissection of my brain and heart by means of a dull rusted blade for the public to look in on.”
When an artist says they’re releasing something meaningful to them, I feel like they are owed the duty of an open-minded listen/view. The last we heard from Sworn In was “Endless Gray”, prior to their signing to Fearless Records. From Tyler: 772 days later I finally found the right words I needed to share.
“Make It Hurt” as absorbed via the video is definitely intense visually, and yet it is one of those things you can’t look away from. The video aesthetic is horrifyingly beautiful. This is a brutally honest depiction of someone so overwhelmed that only something so severe as pain gets through to them. If this makes no sense to you, neither will the concept and you might be like “WTF?!”.
“I’m fucked in the head
That much I’ll admit
So do me a favor
I know the cure
Make it hurt for me
Don’t ask cause I’m sure
Help me out
Make it quiet for tonight
I know it’s not safe
But I’ll be alright”
Musically the heavy bass chugging and nu metal verses feel frantic, which only serve to have the wide-openness of the cleanly sung “MAKE IT HURT!” choruses feel even more reliefsome. The point is being artfully made here, that (to the version of Tyler that created the track at least) pain is relief. But hurt is still hurt and it’s still not freedom – and that is felt too.
The shifting across timings and song sections is awesomely hectic and Sworn In don’t miss a beat. There’s nothing I don’t like about this and I’ll be soaking up the new tracks as they come.
Check out “Make It Hurt” via the music video or stream via Spotify and share with us what you think on Facebook or Twitter.
