There’s no glamour in self-destruction on Luke O’Hanlon’s single, Alcohol and Sodium. The primary lower from his forthcoming album, The River Solely Flows One Method, carries the load of each remorse that lingers lengthy after the bottle’s empty and the neon lights have misplaced their heat. O’Hanlon’s lyricism, steeped in stark poetry and weary knowledge, doesn’t romanticise the tough edges—it lays them naked, exposing the loneliness in dangerous choices and the inevitability of time slipping by cracked fingers.
Sonically, O’Hanlon leans into the mesmerising guitar work of Kurt Vile whereas pulling from Modest Mouse’s uncooked alt-country grit. When the composition fractures into storage rock territory, Strokes-esque vocals carve their manner by the stripped-back instrumentation, making certain each line lands like an unfiltered confession relatively than a efficiency.
There’s a whisper of Tom Waits’ barstool storytelling and Richard Thompson’s reducing readability within the supply, however O’Hanlon’s voice is fully genuine—ragged but resolute, with a cynicism that by no means topples into defeat.
Somewhat than framing hedonism as riot or a obligatory ceremony of passage, Alcohol and Sodium affords a special perspective—one which doesn’t ask for sympathy or redemption, simply recognition. If that is simply the primary glimpse into The River Solely Flows One Method, the total launch in April 2025 is about to be an unflinching, razor-sharp reflection on survival itself.
Alcohol and Sodium is now obtainable to stream on SoundCloud.
Evaluate by Amelia Vandergast
