Content warning: self-harm

You can hardly dip your toe into the midwest emo pool without coming across American Football: ‘Never Meant’ is arguably the genre’s defining track, and though nothing the band have penned since reforming in 2014 has reached quite that level of success or acclaim, the four-piece remain one of the most talked-about (and cried-over) acts in their field. Now four album deep into their discography, the band continue to excel in their niche— new record ‘LP4’ does exactly what you would want it to.

American Football are hardly reinventing themselves on their most recent release— this is their fourth self-titled project, for crying out loud— but that means very little when the group’s output is so sparse, and their influence so inescapable. ‘LP4’ is defined almost completely by its lush soundscapes, which wash over you with a heartfelt mixture of warmth and bitter sadness. Oftentimes, the lengthy instrumental excursions the record goes on see Kinsella and company sounding like a post-rock outfit, frequently layering keyboards atop guitars atop bass lines atop whatever else American Football have thrown into the mix: opener ‘Man Overboard’ is particularly linear in its structure, driving towards an outro that revels in the crunchiness of its lead tones, but even on a more straightforward number like ‘Patron Saint of Pale,’ it’s these intricate soundscapes that’ll steal your attention. Every element that makes up ‘LP4’ is given all the space it needs to come through with absolute clarity, yet the resulting mix never fails to surround and overwhelm you. It should come as no surprise that, once again, American Football have made some very pretty music.

The band have clearly put a lot of thought into how all these melodic lines and arrangements fit together, but that doesn’t stop ‘LP4’ from acting as a very intimate and confessional record. Kinsella’s vocals are an acquired taste, certainly, but there’s no denying how pained and honest he’s able to sound throughout much of the album: many of these tracks are riddled with lyrics pertaining to self-doubt, loneliness, depression and a host of other mental health issues, and American Football treat each one with the appropriate sincerity and nuance for subjects this heavy. As far as capturing these experiences musically though, it’s actually the band’s instrumental forays that evoke the greatest emotion. Whenever ‘LP4’ plays its midwest emo sound completely straight, as it does on ‘Blood On My Blood’ and ‘Wake Her Up,’ the mixture of overly pleasant melodies and warm, indistinct tones that works elsewhere washes over you in a rather indistinct (or even unmemorable) fashion. It’s only when American Football spread their wings a little that the true beauty of their songwriting begins to come through.

The greatest strengths underpinning ‘LP4’ are all plain to see on ‘Bad Moons,’ which stands as the clear standout track here: it’s the longest cut on offer, and feels appropriate ambitious and lofty because of it. This gut-wrenchingly bleak number is defined by its driving outro, taking such chilling lyrics as “I slit my wrists in the dark: I didn’t exist in the dark until I found you in the dark” and running very, very far with them. The howling keyboard overtones and mournful guitar lines that sell this track are gorgeous, no doubt, but it’s really Lamos’ driving percussion that lends the track such momentum and pace— his playing often feels like the secret weapon at American Football’s disposal, unleashed as it tends to be in each song’s extended ending. The band usually leave the best for last within each track, building their arrangements up to staggering levels of intensity and emotion. If you’re returning to ‘LP4,’ it’ll be for the soaring vocals of ‘No Feeling’ or the ghostly chimes on ‘Desdemona,’ or perhaps just for the melancholy of the whole thing.

American Football are a pillar of midwest emo, and they’ve yet to be shaken from their place at the genre’s centre: ‘LP4’ is yet another reason to respect this band, who continue to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Their fourth self-titled outing is lush and cinematic at every turn, yet it’s for the emotions these arrangements evoke that the album is able to capture you. Kinsella and company continue to be tearjerkers, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.