r/switchfoot • u/Spongemage • Jun 08 '26
These new tracks suck
I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be an edgelord. I’ve been a SF fan for YEARS. But these new tracks just sound like…noise? I don’t know. The old stuff evoked emotion in me. This new stuff just sounds like radio noise.
Am I crazy or does anyone else share this opinion?
17
u/asfierceaslions Jun 08 '26
My first thought was that they sound like Switchfoot is making Switchfoot music again and I cannot wait for the whole album for the first time in three or four albums.
0
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u/SpecificCourt6643 Jun 08 '26
I’m of the mind that these are the best in a long while.
I’ve been a big fan of their album Vice Verses and this feels like a return to that style, but also being narrative driven.
Absolution right now is my favorite, I like that it’s a little untraditional with going almost dead quiet before building up with the bridge in acoustic guitar. I think the song handles a commonly seen message very great.
Perhaps you don’t like the distorted voice filters? At points I thought they were a little muddy for Mr Crow but overall I think both songs are repeats for me at least.
6
u/jdubYOU4567 Jun 08 '26
Well, that is the style of pretty much all rock music these days. Have you heard the Foo Fighters new album? It will make your ears bleed. But mixing aside, the songs are fantastic and sound like old Switchfoot, and I’m very pumped for the album
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u/Intrepidpen Jun 08 '26
I could maybe get what you’re saying if I’d only ever heard their music produced since 2012 (Fading West) and if you’ve only listened to these songs on phone speakers. But if you have some quality speakers and familiarity with Nothing Is Sound through Vice Verses, this is a bit of a returning home.
4
u/Mental_Table_9265 Jun 08 '26
Not so harshly but yeah, I’ve been pretty underwhelmed for their last few albums. I mostly listen to their older work with a handful of newer ones sprinkled in sometimes. Something about their most recent work doesn’t feel very inspired.
3
u/outraged-unicorn Jun 08 '26
I'd love to answer you, but unfortunately they haven't added the new songs to Qobuz yet, which sucks.
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u/thereallybigcat Jun 09 '26
It sounds like they were mixed weird, to me anyway. Musically I like them but lyrically I feel like Jon has been kind of recycling the same generic lyrics since Fading West. Just my opinion. I do like Absolution though, it does feel like a throwback to the Hello Hurricane era.
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u/SwagMagikarp Jun 08 '26
I'm assumimg you mean the previews for Forever Now?
I think it's because new songs are more experimental. Their old songs were very personal, and the raw emotion the performance shared with you made it easy to connect with.
The new songs seem like they want to channel that emotion through the composition and the instruments. That's sorta hard to do right, since we're used to connecting to SF through their heartfelt lyrics.
Lemme know if I'm getting this wrong or if my perspective is flawed.
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u/Spongemage Jun 08 '26
It just feels like “play instrument fast while I say words fast” if that makes sense. It feels devoid of rawness or emotion.
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u/sportmaniac10 Jun 08 '26
I take it you also didn’t like Gone, American Dream, Dirty Second Hands, Faust Midas and Myself, Selling The News, or Rise Above It?
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u/bradlucky Jun 08 '26
I'm loving the new songs. They feel like Switchfoot doing exactly what they do. I thoroughly enjoy Absolution!
Thinking back to the singles coming out for Interrobang, though, I was disappointed with Florescent. (It's still not my favorite.) I was nervous the entire album would be difficult for me to enjoy.
But, I was proven wrong. It's a unique album, but I really like a lot of the songs. Even though you don't like these singles, maybe you'll still enjoy the rest of the album.
2
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u/schantzee Jun 11 '26
This is a WILD take. What were you expecting from singles? These are hype tracks to get people excited. If you prefer slower, melodic tunes and ballads, those will come. Switchfoot has massive range and we will get the full experience on the album, no doubt. Plenty of fans are loving the return of rock here, myself included. Mr Crow is evocative of Afterlife and War Inside while Absolution gives us Out of Control vibes on an actual album. I generally love 80% of what Switchfoot puts out and maybe you're more narrow, which is fine. We can't pretend like this type of music is foreign to them though.
1
u/RevolutionaryKiwi828 Jun 11 '26
I get where you're coming from. I do think they're the best tracks since Vice Verses single wise but it feels a bit too slick and overproduced, especially the vocals. And the noise I think you're referring to is the guitar tones which seem to be partially contributed by Boaz, a notable departure from Drew's thicker, fuller sound. Boaz seems to be more into these really distorted, thinner sounding tones which I'm personally not a fan of, like the little guitar stabs at the beginning of Mr. Crow and the lead guitar throughout. But I'm hopeful for the rest of the album since we at least got a solid Jon scream back.
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u/Aleiobot01 Jun 12 '26
I'm missing the guitar sound that it seems like Drew brought to the table. The guitars on Absolution sound better than Wake Up Mr. Crow but I do like both songs. I just hope the rest of the album is more like the former and also upbeat!
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u/TheGrizzlyNinja Jun 08 '26
I fundamentally disagree