Hailing from the UK, Hurtless is the alternative genre’s newest “super-group.” Comprised of Brian MacDonald (PVRIS), Ben Shorten (Cove), Mark Osbourne, and Lee Munday (both Moose Blood), the band’s first single “Slower” was released on June 4th, 2021.
The first of five singles that the band will put out throughout this year, the band has drawn inspiration from 80s-90s indie, 2000s emo, and just about everything in between for their first release. These influences result in a bright, airy song about love and longing that will be stuck in your head for days.
Right off the bat, the influences from the members’ other projects aren’t hard to hear. There’s a dreamy feeling to this song that is also present in some of PVRIS’s material.
Osbourne did much of the writing for Moose Blood, a band that I was a huge fan of when they were at the height of their popularity, and that’s evident in this track as well. Lyrically, this is a track about falling head over heels in love with someone and wanting to support them through everything, but wanting them to do the same for you, reminiscent of earlier Moose Blood songs like “Knuckles.”
For as much as fans of Cove, PVRIS, and Moose Blood will find comfort and familiarity in this track, there’s something new and fresh about it as well. Hurtless isn’t just a blend of the members’ past musical ventures, it’s so much more. This band breathes new life into alternative music, completely revitalizing the subgenres that it fits into with enchanting guitar riffs and soaring choruses more reminiscent of The 1975 and The Band Camino than the members’ other projects.
There’s something especially satisfying about the fact that these musicians are just as excited about making this music as listeners are to be hearing it. When asked about forming the band, Osbourne said, “Brian and I have always wanted to do something together. With Hurtless the timing just kind of worked out between all four of us. It’s exciting to finally be doing it.”
As mentioned earlier, the lyrical content of this song is laced with romance and vulnerability. Shorten starts the song by singing, “Can you wait for me? / ‘Cause I’ll wait for you / And do you think of me / Like I always think of you?”
The chorus delivers more of the same; “I want to show you what you mean to me / I want to prove this is worth it / I want to show you what you mean to me / I want to make you proud of this.” In a time where the world can be extremely bleak and everyday life can be just as dark and daunting, sometimes you just need a straightforward, sweet-as-honey love song to get you through the day, and that’s exactly what this single is.
The track ends with the lines, “I will hold your hand all the way / All I wanted was another chance / So I could make things right / And maybe we can feel like / We were falling in love again”, revealing a bit more about the storyline of the song and the motives of the lovestruck narrator. Osbourne says it best himself; “‘Slower’ is basically about opening up in the way that you feel about someone. It’s like declaring your love for them.”
As soon as I heard this song for the first time, I immediately put it on repeat and listened to it about 15 more times. Once you start listening to “Slower”, you won’t be able to get enough of it.
The debut single from Hurtless, “Slower”, is available to stream wherever you listen to music. You can support the band by picking up a shirt, their first official piece of merch, and you can keep up with them on social media, @HurtlessBand on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
If you also can’t stop listening to this band and this song, let me know by tweeting me @JENSESSlON! For future coverage of whatever it is that Hurtless does next, be sure to follow the blog on social media @StrawbSkiesBlog on Twitter, @StrawberrySkiesBlog on Facebook, and @StrawberrySkiesBlog on Instagram.