''Spiral in a Straight Line'' is the sixth studio album by American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band

Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. Since 2010, the band has consisted of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Ba ...

. It was released on October 11, 2024, through

Rise Records Rise Records is an American record label currently based in Beaverton, Oregon, mainly focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, and punk rock music artists. History Rise was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada City, California. He relea ...

. Production was handled by Ross Robinson. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Julien Baker and

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock ...

Critical reception

''Spiral in a Straight Line'' was met with generally favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

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score of 79 based on seven reviews. Ben Tipple of '' DIY'' praised the album, stating: "the shifts are subtle but notable, providing another brilliant backdrop for Jeremy's largely pained candour". Will Yarbrough of ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' resumed: "it's not their best album, but by sticking closely to this pattern, ''Spiral in a Straight Line'' is their most cohesive". Ellie Kovach of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' wrote: "the band has lost none of the adventurousness of ''

Lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

'', but the songs are more direct and immediate, weaponizing Bolm's hoarse roar in service of the strongest and most surprising hooks of their career to date".

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic (abbreviated as Sputnik) is a music website that publishes music reviews and news entries. The site hosts both professional and amateur content, covering metal, punk, indie, rock, hip-hop, pop and other styles. Its reviews are us ...

staff member found "''Spiral in a Straight Line'' strives to strike a balance. It's a collection of great songs, varies in pace, and is recognisably Touché". Paul Dika of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' wrote: "''Spiral in a Straight Line'' is an album that represents the logical next step for a band who have honed in on what works — not reinventing the wheel but finding subtle ways to improve on what Touché Amoré is and what they can be". In a mixed review, Mischa Pearlman of ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' stated: "there are a couple of marvellous moments – namely the shapeshifting "Mezzanine" and the agonising regret of "Finalist" – but often ''Spiral In A Straight Line'' settles into itself too much".

Track listing

Personnel

Touché Amoré *

Jeremy Bolm Jeremy X. Bolm is an American vocalist, record label owner, music producer and writer. In his music career, he is most known for being the full-time vocalist of the post-hardcore band Touché Amoré. He has also performed with the part-time bands ...

– vocals * Clayton Stevens – guitars, keyboards * Nick Steinhardt – guitars,

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

, art direction, design * Elliot Babin – drums * Tyler Kirby – bass Additional contributors * Ross Robinson –

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, additional

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Alan Douches – mastering *

Steve Evetts Steve Evetts is an American record producer who has produced music for Alesana, Poison the Well, A Static Lullaby, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, Symphony X, Saves the Day, Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Hightower, Story of the Year, E ...

– mixing * Mike Balboa – engineering * Matt DeLisi – cover art * Sean F. Stout – principal photography * Jordan Divers – design

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2024 albums Rise Records albums Touché Amoré albums Albums produced by Ross Robinson