REVIEW: Random Hearts - Love PTSD
- Julia Brunton
- 15 hours ago
- 4 min read
The nostalgia runs deep for French post-hardcore outfit RANDOM HEARTS as they craft their debut album Love PTSD, taking 90s post hardcore conventions and sprinkling in 00s emo rock to make a soundscape that matches the angst and yearning of the album’s lyrics. A solid debut for RANDOM HEARTS, Love PTSD feels like a solid foundation to build their sound from.
Lyrically, there are pieces of beautiful imagery woven into Love PTSD that paint the picture of yearning and regret RANDOM HEARTS envisioned for their debut. Before We Met is among the best of the songwriting, where PUTAND tries to remember a life before meeting the muse of Love PTSD, admitting to overimagining what a relationship could be in the beginning then overpromising with them as a result. The final question “where was my heart before we met/and where was it seen last” is the final question in a motif that is strung through Before We Met, offering the sonic equivalent of a sigh on a park bench in the middle of a mental health walk that post-hardcore is often turned to for. A couple tracks later is Manikin, which details sneaking around with a paramour, discussing the guilt and pain of being secretly intertwined with someone else. The yearning for the subject is balanced well with the guilt for the other parties involved, with the first lines “when will we finally pay for the love we stole/shifting blame and broken ties/all the way down” capturing this feeling perfectly.
Elsewhere in Love PTSD there are some standout lines, Fences “let’s go straight to the end/like a moth drawn to a flame” may be the most resonant line in the album for its subject, encapsulating the feeling of moving between continuous troubled relationships and knowing their end yet still being drawn towards them primally. The title track has “who can tell the sad from the sick” as the last line of Love PTSD, which is delivered at strain before the closing drum solo and works well as the final thought on getting past turbulent romance.
However, the lyrics on Love PTSD are generally sporadic, with short verses and a lack of full sentences giving an unrefined feeling to the whole project. While thematically clear as a whole album, in individual songs the writing can be confusing such as in opener and single Crosswalk; “crosswalk paints/on a quicksand’s road/I’m not so sure/I’m on my own” has a clear inference of running out of time and a lack of confidence in one’s decisions, but the imagery is not quite realised so leaves little impression. Further on, Recede Into the Shadows has potential in lyrics such as “no whys, no how's, just fate’s design/fate provides, fate deprives in time”, but the reference to a “dying cat parade” and the recurrent motif of a “Vending Machine of Broken Dreams” offsets the depth of introspection that RANDOM HEARTS are venturing for. On the note of the latter motif, it is confusing as to whether the vending machine is subject to their dreams being broken or whether it is supplying them. This may be put down to first album growing pains, and there is plenty of potential as RANDOM HEARTS to flesh out the songwriting ability.
Love PTSD doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to its sound. It is clearly situated in post hardcore, with some intricate melodies and live vocals integrated into the mix rather than placed over the top of it. The emo rock influence compliments the 90s post hardcore well by adding angsty power chord progressions and more layering in the guitar work that compounds the comforting nostalgia that RANDOM HEARTS are pulling from; the nostalgic feel works thematically as each track reminisces on a different aspect of a love affair. The best example of this is in Rehearsed Goodbyes: starting with a strong drum roll intro before settling into the verses to craft a track that could’ve featured on new song of the week on Kerrang! In 2003. The solo is a swinging and distorted breakdown, hitting the moody melodies of post-hardcore over the top of a full emo rock backdrop that picks up enough to build good tension for the next half of Love PTSD. Sonically, Love PTSD’s tracks are well paced and well performed, but don’t feel to have a sound that feels unique to RANDOM HEARTS. Again, this may come down to this being their first full length project - they have the post hardcore/emo rock fusion locked down, so it will be fruitful to see how their personal signature develops as they grow.
Love PTSD is a good starting point for RANDOM HEARTS, working as a proof of concept for the quartet and offering quintessential post harcore conventions that feel refined. This said, it will be exciting to see where RANDOM HEARTS take this sound as they develop it within themselves and find consistency within their lyricism.
Score: 5/10
Love PTSD was released on 20th February 2026 via Vous Connaissez
Words: Julia Brunton
Photos: Thomas Dubois
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