REVIEW: Sick Joy - More Forever

SICK JOY return with their unforgettable and instantly recognisable grungy sound and heartfelt lyrics with new album More Forever. Twelve songs took shape over the course of a year, written between an attic in Newcastle and a lock‑up on the outskirts of Brighton, later being recorded in a remote Spanish studio. Lyrically dark and touching on themes of systemic harm, grief, and survival, and accompanied by abrasive industrial tones with thunderous drum work, More Forever builds on the bands established sound, but shows growth with an additional depth and complexity; echoing the sound of their debut We're All Gonna F*ing Die.

More Forever opens with Back At The Beginning, a short instrumental track, with a single guitar beat that ends with a glitchy overlay. Lead single All Damage plunges the listeners straight into the distinctly rough‑edged, grunge‑laden soundscape, with lyrics that trace the pull of unconscious damage and the longing for absolution. The track is laden with synths and guitars and vocalist MYKL BARTON delivers his distinctive drawl throughout. Follow up single Nothing Good teases the listener with a soft piano opening and even softer vocals, but is a dark, brutal track, with a driving drum rhythm, and lyrics that explore cause and effect, alongside loss. 

Anything Goes leans into the newer, more electronic sounding beat that SICK JOY present from More Forever. For listeners familiar with the band, the track is reminiscent of Hyperdermic Sunshine, with a huge chorus backed by quieter verses, that strikes with intent. With lyrics “If I can use it/I will abuse it” repeated throughout the track, the narrative of meeting your shadow head on and resisting the lure of denial lands heavily. The vibes delivered also feel very late NINE INCH NAILS influenced. Fourth single Cinnamon Burn is another track that starts softly, but then crashes into a weight‑loaded, anthemic chorus. It’s clearly a song for the broken hearted listener, with themes of just not knowing when to quit weaved throughout, in lyrics like “My hope is dangerous it’s all I’ve got/Your dirty golden and deep down heart/I’ll tell myself a lie to survive/I’ll tear myself apart to survive”. It’s a perfect example of the natural progression of SICK JOY’s sound, where they have taken what they are at the core, and made it heavier, and to some extent, more unsettling. 

As arguably the softest track on the album, Gone Missing delivers more electronic beats and industrial edges, again returning to a NINE INCH NAILS-esque sound, but this time more akin to The Downward Spiral. Here We Are, Somewhere Liminal is the second instrumental track on More Forever; it’s reminiscent of the opener, consisting of a simple guitar with an electronic, static-y overlay. Stockholm Flavour returns to the earlier theme of tracks with crushing drums and synths, with strong, smashing chorus, with BARTON asking an unknown force for constant reassurance, with lyrics like “Tell me you won’t let me down/Tell me you can see me now” and asking “Is it love or something darker?”.

The lyrics to recently released track Video Game (which has an incredible 8-bit music video) present the metaphor of trying and trying again, with BARTON describing the song as “a recount of watching another version of myself die. It’s grief. It’s spite. It’s a persistence. It’s moving forward whilst looking back. It’s telling all the secrets I’ve been keeping from myself to the world”. Video Game is potentially the best example on More Forever of how SICK JOY’s sound has evolved but is still immediately recognisable as them.  If there was a track that didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the album, it would be Strawberries Cigarettes. It’s not a track that stands out from the rest; it has a more generic alternative rock sound, with the added element of a piano, but the vocals and lyrics are as well‑crafted as the rest of the album. Somebody Else returns to the heavier sound from earlier on in the track run, with BARTON voice punching through with another anthemic chorus. Death Scene (More Forever) is an explosive closing track; heavy drums, heavy synths and BARTON recognisable tones. With the repetition of the album name throughout the track, there’s no way you can forget what you’ve just listened to.  

More Forever is an album full of unflinching honesty. The more industrial sound that SICK JOY have adopted cuts through the loud, immediately gripping choruses, and collides with the thunderous percussion, wrapped in razor‑edged synths. SICK JOY are a band that are in a constant state of reinvention, but each iteration only improves on the one before it. More Forever is the new heavier, sharper, and far more haunted version of SICK JOY; it’s the band at their expansive and most vulnerable and is an album not to be missed. 

Score: 8/10

More Forever will be released on 30th January via SO Recordings

Words: Lou Viner-Flood

Photos: Steve Gullick