REVIEW: Lovewell - Everything You Ever Wanted

Since forming in 2018, Massachusetts band LOVEWELL have steadily dropped singles over the years as well as 2022 EP Around The Flowers, exploring a mix of genres and developing their signature sound. That sound has officially reached new heights on their debut album Everything You Ever Wanted, a collection that sees the four-piece blending their hardcore roots with alternative sounds and hypnotic vocals for an unexpected and entirely enjoyable sound.

Focusing on grunge rhythms that switch from languid intros to rushing speeds, the vocals slow and dreamy over crackling, distorted guitar and heavy bass riffs, Everything You Ever Wanted feels like the space between BLUSH PUPPY’s alternating sounds and early FOO FIGHTERS’ gentler tracks, a space you wouldn’t expect but once heard it just feels right. This is a LOVEWELL that feels ready to take on the world.

It’s not often you see the word Gloaming out in the wild, but the opening track encapsulates both the dreamy quality of dusk in singer and bassist Mark Palladino’s yearning vocals as he asks you to “meet [him] in the gloaming again”, and the inevitable dark of twilight in the brooding, grunge-like instruments and feedback-infused intro - it’s a song to play to the backdrop of evening stargazing. Make Me Whole picks up the pace with a racing drum beat from Jack Francis that cuts through Joe Bradshaw and Jacob McCabe’s fuzzed guitar chords, while the lyrics paint a heartbreaking portrait of someone who’s struggling to feel okay again. Go Again starts in the same vein of emo instrumentals of distorted riffs and crispy drums under lulling vocals, but it suddenly switches up midway to a frenzy of drums and giving the deceptive appearance that everything has ramped up.

Less Than Forever is 90s grunge but in the modern area, giving a distinctively NIRVANA sound as Palladino sings about letting go of something that isn’t working and choosing not to live in the nostalgia but to accept the reality of the situation, a simple yet upbeat guitar solo breaking through the moody feel. With a shoegaze-esque guitar riff intro, Want To Bloom has a deceptive start that is quickly shattered as it goes from languid and expectant to surging forward with speed and slick riffs, the track a similar tale of taking the next steps in a journey of self-discovery and healing. Overflow is a standout track given that there are no vocals barring a recorded movie scene at the start - the track begins with a 60’s psychedelic rock guitar before becoming more of a shoegaze sound where it’s up to you to interpret the song. Prepare to blast this out of a car on a night time road trip just to feel something.

In Your Corner starts to feel more like Palladino has done all the healing he needs and is trying to match the energy and speed of the instruments around him, the lyrics “let me down again” repeating over and over, a pulsing drum roll and power-driven riffs keeping time with the cadence of the track. Drear is slightly deceptive in its unhurried approach, before it changes tack to the beat changing up between repeated vocals, the riff repeating throughout the song until a final melancholy guitar piece echoes in the background, before descending into scuzzy chords under muffled calls of “you’re so close, you’re almost there”. Final track of the album Untrue stays consistent in the album’s sound, beginning slow and then charging ahead as if there’s no time to waste, suddenly dropping back down in speed to give space for Palladino to sing “we’ll try to bring you back to life”, slowing back down for the third and final act with the apt words “take your time”, fading out to feedback that mirrors and opposes the album’s introduction.

Everything You Ever Wanted stays consistent in its sound and gradually the expectation to not expect the norm, blending 90s grunge with shoegaze and an undertone of punk beats on the faster segments. It won’t sit comfortably in any one certain genre camp, but it’s created a place for itself to be appreciated.

Score: 7/10

Everything You Ever Wanted will be released on 12th June 2026 via Financial Records/Another Year Collective.

Words: Julia Stark

Photos: Lovewell