“I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends” by Underoath, Thursday, January 27, 2022


On January 14th, Underoath released their ninth studio record, the self-produced Voyeurist. Today, Labeled launched a new video series called Deep Dives on YouTube. The series sets out to document the creative process of creating music. In this season Underoath will talk about the background to their latest album. In the first episode, the band talks about tensions in the band surrounding their polarizing eighth studio record, Erase Me, released in 2018.  The band talks about their recording process  with producer Matt Squire who almost therapeutically helped the band work through their creative differences on their last record, ultimately producing an album very different for the band. On Voyeurist, though, the band decided to channel what they learned from Squire and previous producer Matt Goldman and craft another very different Underoath record.

GOTTA CLEAN YOURSELF UP BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY. "I'm Pretty Sure" is Spencer Chamberlain at his best--singing and screaming. It's also the band playing not a song but a composition. Voyeurist has been called by fans as the "spiritual sequel to Lost in the Sound of Separation, an album that sees the band performing at their peak, after rejecting the poppier sounds of They're Only Chasing Safety, but not playing quite as hard as Define the Great Line. Voyeurist, too, rejects the poppier song styles found on Erase Me, and embraces unconventional song structures. And unlike previous Underoath albums in which clean vocals were mostly assigned to Aaron Gillespie and screaming to Spencer, the screaming on Voyeurist is measured to build intensity. Many songs are based on vocals sung by Spencer, who screams lines to add intensity. "I'm Pretty Sure" is based on a cut-up sample of record phone calls, the first to a wrong number and the second to 9-1-1. The creepy music behind the call intensifies and Chamberlain adds the lyrics. The visualizer for the song shows eerie images cloaked behind a staticky television. The visuals look like they could be from late '80s or early '90s news or one of those blood-stirring television specials on late a night on Fox or an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.  

DON'T YOU DRIFT TO THE LIGHT AHEAD. It seems that we will get an episode for every track on this album because the next episode is for the opening track, "Damn Excuses" and will be released on February 2nd. I'm very interested to hear the stories behind these song, especially as the series is produced by Tooth & Nail Records, though the band is now singed to Fearless. I haven't listened to the album in context, mainly because it scares me, in all honesty. When the band released Erase Me, I was hesitant to follow them on their version of deconstruction, but I felt that the band's story was sincere. Spenser struggled with depression and substance abuse, the worship music industry and divorce had Aaron questioning his faith, other members of Underoath struggled with their own belief and disbelief and about judging others. Erase Me attempted to address those issues in the band and why some members don't believe in God anymore. With all that off of their chest, what's up with Voyeurist? On Erase Me, 3 of the 11 tracks contain explicit lyrics. On Voyeurist, half of the songs include an F-bomb. But what had me most unnerved by the record are the lyrics on "Pneumonia," the album's closing track. It feels like the darkest song I've ever heard, and I'm left angry, bitter, and craving hope. Apparently the song is about guitarist Tim McTague's father passing away. Today, though, think about a creepy story from a true crime podcast and enjoy "I'm Pretty Sure I'm Out of Luck and Have No Friends."


Labeled: Underoath: The Making of Voyeurist:

Also check out my now reordered 2022+ playlist including the only song actually released in 2022, "I'm Pretty Sure I'm Out of Luck and Have No Friends." The playlist has been reordered to suit the mood better between rock, dark pop, electronic, etc.

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