REVIEW: popfree - Overt
POP FREE’s next EP Overt covers all bases in rock and hardcore - self hate and growing pains with breakups and a sprinkle of anti establishment sentiment. Over seven tracks of dancing chords and building drums POP FREE resign themselves to the frustrations and laments of the world around them; the resulting EP making the perfect listen on the bus home from work as the nights get dark.
Overall, Overt enjoys a resigned lamenting within its lyrics, with opening track Giving Up painting a picture of a deep sigh as you start to get sick of keeping positive. Disappointed and stuck is a feeling that permeates through this track and the whole project; White Spruce is more on the nose with this, admitting that it feels like they have hit a dead end in their life, lamenting missed opportunities in its chorus with “right place/wrong time” repeated as its motif. POP FREE’s lyricism is plain and honest - they paint scenes that the emotions they discuss take place in rather than dress that emotion in metaphor, which matches perfectly with the dragging power chords that make up the emo soundscape.
At its most honest there is All I Can Remember, a track that puts to paper memories its author has spent time trying to let go. The introduction falls into the more hardcore side of Overt and its first verse blames itself for not speaking up as the screaming starts downstairs, but as the track bears on the anger at ‘him’ for his treatment of the subject and the desire for the memories to go away, painting the picture of listening to mum and her new boyfriend have it out past bedtime. There is a gorgeous plucked guitar melody in the intermission and a gentleness throughout that contrasts the dark subject matter, giving the scene the quiet that lets you drift off between bouts.
Back in the present Overt keeps the anti-establishment leanings in Fools Gold with a punkier instrumental and a floor lead drum solo underneath an angry musing about working for nothing and being called lazy while the rich line their pockets with your labour. The tinge of clean vocals that frontman Jacob Bever has utilised disappears in Fools Gold, with the venom in his voice clear as he laments the idea that working hard would allow you to achieve your dreams. The track closes with a speech on men of power and capital wanting to puppet the working classes on strings, which transitions well into the call for community on Can You Feel?.
Can You Feel? takes the anger of Fools Gold and asks for attendance in your local shows, evoking the feeling of being on stage and the unity of a venue to convince the listener that they should get a ticket and let their hair down. The vibe change to the positive is a welcome break from the raw tones of the rest of Overt, and stands as a reminder with the feeling of isolation in the rest of the project that the richness of community can help even if it can’t completely heal.
Goodbye closes Overt with a long instrumental opening - lazy ride cymbal lead and chords that feel absentmindedly strummed when away with the fairies. When the twelve lines of lyrics do kick in, they have a breakup feel to them; a couple promising this is the final goodbye with a resignation in their delivery that makes it feel absolute. The reverbed chord draws out Overt to its conclusion, and finishes the project with a track that feels like it could be the breakup montage in an angsty teen movie.
Overt is an apt name for POP FREE’s second EP, with its subject matter calling to a band that is not afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve. Lyrically Overt is honest with the skeletons in its past and the dissatisfaction with the present, but this is balanced with hope for the future that stops Overt from being fuel for a spiral. In short, Overt is the perfect EP for the bus ride home from work in the dark evenings with a soaked through jacket
Score: 8/10
Overt will be released on 23rd October 2026 via New Morality Zine.
Words: Julia Brunton
Photos: Samuel David Katz
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