I have a problem. A musical toxic trait if you will. I only listen to certain songs by the artists that I like; I rarely listen to whole albums. While this may seem normal to some people, others find that listening to albums as they come out is an integral part of enjoying artists and bands. I’m getting better though. With Joji’s much anticipated “Smithereens” album, I took the time to give it a thorough listen. I was rewarded with some really great songs beyond the title tracks. However, this isn’t my favorite result of my newfound habit. That would be the latest Backseat Lovers album, “Waiting to Spill.”
`“Waiting to Spill,” released on October 28, 2022 by The Backseat Lovers, has ten songs on the album. While not necessarily despondent, there is a profound feeling of melancholy and nostalgia portrayed by the tracks in the album. However, each of the songs are interesting in their own right, so I made a breakdown of the tracklist.

Silhouette
This is one of my favorite songs on the album. It begins with a quieter, but still quick-paced guitar intro. This builds up for much of the song’s beginning; there aren’t any words until almost two minutes in. In fact, there are hardly any words in this song. The focus is on the music. When you get to halfway through the song (about three minutes) you reach a point where the music begins to swell. This song is the climax of a movie. It’s the understanding that the protagonist reaches alone that will change their life. This feeling continues all the way to the end of the song. Power and intensity leaves the track feeling momentous, even into the outro at around five minutes in. The music transitions into real life sounds: crickets chirping outside and a semi passing on the highway. Curiously, the song concludes with a guitar verse that I initially assumed would be present at the beginning of the next song. While it does begin to match the tone of the next song, “Close Your Eyes,” it isn’t a perfect transition. The guitar progression serves to balance out the tone of the rest of the song, ending the track on a more hopeful note.
Close Your Eyes
While the tone isn’t too much of a departure from that of the album, “Close Your Eyes” does stand in contrast to “Silhouette.” Mainly, there is a typical verse-chorus-bridge structure. However, hints of the momentous feelings of “Silhouette” are reflected in this track as well. The song is about the narrator’s father and the impact he had on the narrator’s life. In addition to this, the song is also about growing up and having your old self die. The chorus goes,
“Now the day has died
But it’s too late to close your eyes
To close your eyes
Close your eyes”
The song is about thinking of growing up and the influences that the narrator has had on their growth. This contributes to one of the album’s major themes: growth and death. Most literally, this theme is shown in one of the album’s title tracks, “Growing/Dying.”
Morning in the Aves
With “Silhouette,” “Morning in the Aves” is my favorite song on the album. They are similar tracks, both with the aforementioned intensity of feeling that perpetuates through the entire track. However, “Morning in the Aves” has more lyrics. The song is about being in your hometown on a fall morning. The narrator is reminiscing about his childhood. Like “Close Your Eyes,” this song has a nostalgic feeling coupled with profound apprehension about the present and future. Overall, I love this song dearly.
Growing/Dying
In terms of lyrical merit, this is perhaps the best song on the album. While it’s not as musically impactful as some other songs, the lyrics are still incredibly critical to ideas of the album. Particularly, the image of a “plant on the windowsill… growing and dying all the time” is one that contributes to the album’s themes of new beginnings and old ends. Another one of my favorite lines in the song is
“Why does the wall insist I have my back against it?
Why does the wall—
Why don’t you call me out for leaving all the lights on?
Why don’t you call—”
In addition to the personification of the wall, there is a double entendre in the phrase “Why don’t you call.” The literary and lyrical merit of this song is what places “Growing/Dying” as one of the top songs on the album.
Words I Used
While it isn’t one of the most standout tracks on the album, “Words I Used” has some standout features. Slightly reminiscent of “Silhouette,” the song has a complete melodic and rhythmic change about half way through. The use of piano/keyboard throughout is also a very impactful feature of the track. Additionally, the lyrics of this song are also great. The song is about the end of a relationship, similar to the themes expressed by other tracks on the album. It’s a sweet and sad story, with a more vulnerable and exposed tone than many of the other songs.
Snowbank Blues
“Snowbank Blues” is a blues tune with a swing melody that’s about small towns and growing away. While it’s not my favorite song on the album, the music is distinctive and fun. The blues bounce on the guitar is a interesting way to give the album variety. While many of the other songs seem morose at points, this track is more lighthearted. Overall a decent song, even if it isn’t one of my favorites.
Follow the Sound
Similar to the end of “Silhouette,” “Follow the Sound” starts with a real sound: a car alarm. Then, a piano ushers in the poppy melody with a typical verse-chorus structure. I wouldn’t put it in my top five of the album, but it’s certainly a good song regardless. Lyrics like,
“Stumble in and out the mornings with the moon” give the song a notable place in terms of writing. I often enjoy listening to the track, and I think that it remains worthy of its place on the album.
Slowing Down
“Slowing Down,” clocking in at more than five minutes, makes a return to the more abstract nature of some of the album’s earlier songs. The tempo is slower and the track has more atmosphere behind the guitar. The outro, “Alone in California / The dream is dimming / The second time I’vе heard that voice / And it’s getting loudеr” involves less concrete concepts than the lyrics in many other songs. This brings an ominous tone to the track. The line “And when I’ll have to spill it” is also a direct call back to the album’s title. These references are more obvious towards the end of the album, with “Waiting to spill” being in “Viciously Lonely.”
Know Your Name
The guitar on this track is awesome. Along with the drums and bassline, the song maintains the abstract nature introduced in “Slowing Down.” While it’s also not one of my favorites, I still regard this song highly, especially for the musical merit that it brings to the album. The Backseat Lovers are known for their great guitar lines, and I think that this is a track where the simple guitar melody is allowed to shine.
Viciously Lonely
Despite the title, “Viciously Lonely” is not too depressive of a song. The album’s last track starts with a simple guitar progression and some singing. Then, a piano joins with some percussion to add atmosphere. The song has themes of seeing beauty in death. “The trees are killin off / In a lovely kind of way” is an example of this. In the fifth verse, the song mentions the album’s title. “Waiting To Spill.” Personally, I really love how the verse works with the instrumental qualities of the song to create a great ending to the album. The slower tempo reintroduces us to a more vulnerable tone similar to that of “Words I Used.” The track ends as though the narrator is singing in the shower, which brings the exposed nature of the song to another level. I love that the album ends on this note, as I think it is a great way to conclude the themes of death and life discussed throughout.

Overall, “Waiting to Spill” is currently my favorite album in all of music. The songs are incredible, especially “Silhouette” and “Morning in the Aves.” I love the atmosphere that the album creates, and I can’t wait to see what The Backseat Lovers come up with next.