Genuinely something that fills a gap in the market of honest songwriting coupled with a beautifully savage B-side
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10
Disney-backed pop trio New Hope Club follow up their first two singles in two years with two honest but quintessentially NHC tracks – Call Me A Quitter and Whatever.
The band teased these two songs on TikTok along with the previous two in May 2022, and these two have been the most highly anticipated by fans, and whatever has been my favourite since the start and I truly could not love it more.
Call Me A Quitter discusses the vulnerability of the three boys in there long distance relationships over the pandemic and how they felt that from a distance, they couldn’t be enough for the girls across the pond. It’s been praised across the media and by fans for their honestly, and I couldn’t agree more. The sort of vulnerability they express is rare for men in the music industry. You know that if you strip back all the production you’d hear a song lyrically that came from the heart, and truly out of pure fear of losing a relationship because they just weren’t putting the effort in. To me, the best lyric that portrays this besides the chorus is “She’s becoming part of the furniture, and if I take a a seat back and ask myself if I am doing enough, then I’m probably not”. They elaborated on these lyrics in a video, explaining the even if they were giving their 100% they would still feel like their girlfriends deserved more, and that they constantly wanted to do better, and that’s where the song comes from. It’s honestly refreshing to hear this, rather than the general objectification of women or even just the pure blame game – here, they take responsibility for their own lack of effort, and I applaud them.
The b-Side, Whatever is quite different. It’s a quiet, confident sort of rage towards an ex. It’s still lyrically solid, and definitely another one of those that you could strip to acoustic and it would hit even harder. I’ve loved it from the start mostly because my favourite in the band is on the lead vocals and so there’s always a bias to that, but the song lyrically is just such a mood. It’s a really powerful middle finger to someone who’s wronged you, hurt you and just the feeling that a it doesn’t really matter what they did anymore, you’re fine now. As someone who definitely has an idea about who/what the song is about and also someone who understands those feeling, its an added satisfaction to be able to understand these lyrics just that little bit better. It’s been written like s short story and I think that’s such a beautiful way to explore those feelings and take a listener through those feelings and that plot line, taking them through the love that was, the hurt and anguish after, and the satisfaction of not caring anymore. My favourite lyric of the song is “sour the taste when I heard through the grapevine” just because its a lovely little metaphor and is extended on the first line being about wine.
All this aside, you van probably tell I absolutely adore these tracks and definitely urge you to give it your ear, I think it’s definitely worth it, and if you enjoyed the previous double-single Getting Better/Girl Who Does Both, you’ll enjoy this too!
Call Me A Quitter and Whatever are out now via Hollywood Records, and you can watch the video for Call Me A Quitter here:
