The countdown to Spanish Love Songs’ highly anticipated fifth studio album officially began on the 2nd September 2026. With its release via Pure Noise Records the announcement of their new album Future Nausea.
The tease to the 12 track new album; a single release ‘Good American’ was the beginning of an adventure for Spanish Love Songs from their usual type of story portrayed through their lyrics.
Future Nausea has been a highly anticipated album and after three years since their last album No Joy, I honestly have never been so excited for an album release.
There are familiar notes throughout the album, with nods to those past albums and potential inspirational bands such as The Wonder Years, but there is something distinctive about this chapter of Spanish Love Songs. Evolution is an inevitable part of any bands journey, but Spanish Love Songs underlying theme thats consistent with past albums have long been abandoned, pushing aside the sadness and emotional turmoil usually portrayed making room for the politically charged, frustrated and quite angry lyrical story.
This change of direction with this album will be welcomed I’m sure by the fans new and old, its a change that works remarkably well. The band channel their frustrations and anger into something bigger, aiming it at the world we currently live in and bringing attention to themes we are not necessarily aware of. Theres a sharper meaning to the lyrics, a different type of genre, and an underlying frustration that sets this album distinguishes itself from its predecessors.
I feel like theres a growing number of bands that are using music as a weapon of expression, using their art of music as a battle tool to challenge authority, questions or inform those around them and confronting the political climate. Its certainly not an unfamiliar territory within the punk rock and alternative scenes. Rise Against for example have built their identity around politically charged songwriting. Spanish Love Songs tap into that same spirit with Future Nausea, taking their frustration beyond personal and portraying a much bigger picture.
We begin with the album with its namesake, Future Nausea, the track is textured with crystalline synths, demonstrating the immediate change before the album has started and with the heavy themed lyrics, this amplifies the message being shown. We’re then thrown into Good American where it talks about the hypocrisy and the struggles of those who are sent out to be the voices and the force for those who we call leaders ‘Shipped you off to practice what we preach, like a real samaritan’. The use of synth during this album has been used exquisitely, giving it a slight twist to the very heavy meaning behind the lyrics.
The third song on the album, Welcome To Hell, is a prime example of how synths can be used to add that punchy vibe to a song. This song portrays perfectly the wide consequences of todays society, similar to another album favourite Doom Tripping, ‘Another hero turned to rapist’ strongly supports those ‘heroes’ we have growing up, being accused and sentenced for inexcusable acts.
New Fears, Living Blues and Shadowlands are the more upbeat tracks of the album, even though they are upbeat and what would deem to be ‘happier’ songs, they still support the politically empowered album talking about fears through day to day life. There’s a subliminal philosophical journey of what should be, rather than what is and this is behind the deeply expressive vocals of Dylan Slocum. His voice is the focal point of this journey, his lyrics are the journey and we as the audience are the bystanders.
Both Jan666 and No Dreams are dramatically slower, emphasising the mourning a loss. Where it is not a loss from death, the theme indicates its the loss of ‘dreams for the dreamers’ and mourning the ever growing conformity in society. The tempo of the songs provide a perfect opportunity for Slocum to present his talented vocal range that captured my attention when I first discovered Spanish Love Songs. Another namesake Future Nausea Pt.2, reiterates the argument of the album, the challenges that are present and how they perceive how the society we know today will change, including the potential risks of AI that has been circulating around the internet and news.
The closing songs of the album foreshadows the end of a journey, they offer a glimmer of optimism. See You on the Way Out, offers a subtle but significant change to the setlist, it slows down again allowing the listener to get a feel for the meaning behind the lyrics and understand that theres a silver lining on every cloud ‘I’m gonna push you through hell, but I hope I see you on the way out’.
The last song of the album, Until the Sun Explodes is a musical outlier, while the album follows a fairly constant theme, this throws a stylistic curveball, feeling almost as though it belongs on an entirely different album. The slowest song of the album, yet probably the most empowering. The use of clips of what seems to be friends in a conversation behind Slocum’s vocals which is not present in any other song. ‘I see the sadness in your eyes’ would heavily indicate in my personal opinion this song Is about suicide, or seeing and supporting your friends through dark and difficult times.
Spanish Love Songs did not disappoint, this album is a turning point in their career, its a rallying cry for those who are feeling increasingly unheard and frustrating with the world. This is an album not to be missed, Future Nausea is a reminder that music can be used as a voice, it can be used to challenge and to align people to offer support. One thing is for certain that Spanish Love Songs have plenty more to say, they aren’t here to make the world feel better, they are here to make sure we don’t go down quietly while it falls apart.
