Album Reviews

According to Wikipedia, ‘saudade’ is a word in Portuguese and Galician that has no direct translation in English. It describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something or someone that you love. It also carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return.

Saudade is also the name of these UK pop-punks’ new EP, their Pure Noise debut. It’s a fitting title for an EP where opening track “Gone” starts off with the line ‘well I got desperate when you were broken / clinging along to words you’d spoken’. The bouncy pop-punk that ensues might seem to somewhat contradict the ‘profound melancholic longing’, but Boston Manor have a knack for injecting their songs with a fair amount of British grittiness that gels nicely the lyrics. The same goes for the other three songs on here.  “Trapped Nerve” is up next and comes with a darker alt-rock vibe that mirrors the moody lyrics, while “Asleep At The Wheel” and “Shade” nicely balance pop-punk with some additional emo flair.

Overall, “Saudade” is a solid enough release, even if none of the songs on here jump out and make a lasting impression. There’s something there, but I’m not sure it’s quite good enough already.