The Year In Therapeutic Music

Rolf Venema

22 Dec 2024 — 7 min read

Greetings.

’T is the time for looking back, though frankly I’ve skipped a lot of the year-end lists. I’ve also not much of a stomach for creating one of my own, or at least one that pretends to be a ranking of musical quality.

Having said that, I’ve got a couple of records here that I would like to talk about. They came out this year and, quite frankly, they are the ones that got me through this year.

Because, and pardon the expression, but… what the fuck, right?

It’s been incredibly easy to lose hope and faith and the ability to dream of better things with the way things have been going. Between an ongoing genocide, multiple wars, the inevitable march of climate change, rising fascism all around the world… I don’t need or want to get specifically into all of these things, but it’s been a lot that’s we’ve all been having to deal with. The wider world and its current state make it feel like the walls are closing in. At least it does for me.

But… There! Is! Music! And music can pull us through a lot, in multiple ways. So here are ten records I’ve found to be helpful, in one way or another.

Birds in Row & Coilguns - You & I in the Gap

Usually, when you talk about a collaboration between two bands it’s a split release. But it doesn’t happen that often that two bands get together and actually record together together, creating music together, like what happened here with post-hardcore legends Birds In Row and Coilguns.

You & I in the Gap feels like an urgent record, which can probably be explained by the fact that the songs on this record were recorded in a span of seven days. And yet, it doesn’t feel artificial. It feels like the two bands fit together perfectly and created a set of beautiful, haunting tracks that drove me through many days this year.

Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will

A record drenched in sorrow and melancholy, Nocturnal Will by Dödsrit is a good one to sit down to. The crusty, harsh black metal from previous releases is still here, though the epic guitar solo slider seems to have gotten pushed up on the mixing board quite a bit.

The effect is an interesting combination of down-to-earth screaming and blast beats with soaring-with-the-eagles riffs. But it works! The result is like a dark painting framed in a gilded frame, the splendor of the gold only enhancing the darkness of the painting.

The Chisel - What a Fucking Nightmare

Now, I of course have impeccable taste and only listen to the best, most complicated mathed out blackened post-hardcore, exploring complicated themes like grief and melancholy and what not, but MAN, sometimes you just need a band like The Chisel stomping your door down to break down all pretension.

What A Fucking Nightmare is a straight arrow, you get exactly what’s on the tin, and it’s exhilarating and cathartic. Street punk like your mom used to make.

Spaced - This Is All We Ever Get

The first annual "the kids will be alright" award goes to Spaced, who, in the span of three years, have not stopped going HARD. This Is All We Ever Get is the representation of a relatively young band knowing what it wants and going for it. And it wants to be mad.

Mad at the world, mad at life, mad at specific people, mad at oneself… And it’s a catchy kind of mad, it’s easy to get dragged along in this righteous anger, and it feels energizing to be in this flow. Yeah, the kid’s’ll be alright.

Time X Heist - With Every Passing Moment

It’s hard to have hope these days, so it’s good if you can find a source. One such source for me was this record, With Every Passing Moment by Time Heist. Not only is it hopeful to find an active straightedge band in the year of our lord 2024, but the fact the the record is so uplifting, is amazing.

It’s this driving late '90s youth crew sound about, well, what you’d expect a band like to be about. Staying true to oneself in the face of pressure from the outside world, but also about finding community and solidarity with likeminded people. And in today’s isolated society, where everyone has their own micro-niche, it’s a nice reminder to have hope that there’s more like you out there.

Respire - Hireath

So, ska sucks but you know what does slap? Horn sections. Respire got the note and blends post-hardcore screamo with black metal-ish riffs and then… horns! And boy do they make it work in a way that you don’t expect.

So, real talk now: the unexpected combination of these instruments – and throw in some strings as well – do such an exceptional job of conjuring a melancholy energy. It’s beautiful and so easy to get lost in. This is not background music.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Wild God

An odd thing happened. Usually, I turn to my Nick Cave collection to experience a curious mix of gloom and dread, and yet this year the good man put out one of the most joyful celebrations of life I’ve heard. And it’s funny, because it’s still all permeated by grief.

Anyone who ever lost someone dear to them – which would be almost all of us, I would wager – knows that grief is not something that happens and then it’s over. It transforms over time and it transforms us. So instead of celebrating the absence of bad feelings, Wild God is more about finding a new way to handle them and turn these hard moments into something worth living for. And that’s a catchy feeling when listening to this record.

De Mannen Broeders - Sober Maal

"Heavy" is a word that gets thrown around a lot in music circles, usually referring to some slow, bass-y vibe a band brings. But "heavy" can mean so much more, which is very much on display on this record, Sober Maal.

Because "heavy" sometimes just means a droning hurdy-gurdy and lyrics about a priest who passed away, underpinned by creaking benches and reverb from the church where the songs were recorded. And frankly, it’s lovely, like a weighted blanket of sound.

The Cure - Songs of a Lost World

I think Robert Smith has felt better. If Songs of a Lost World is any indication, he seems to be having a hard time, and I suppose I can’t blame him. The record harkens back to The Cure highlights like Disintegration, except even on that record you’d have a light note like Lovesong. No such luck here.

And I think that’s fine. Sometimes you don’t want a pick-me-up, you want to wallow. Sometimes you don’t want to hear about how it’s all going to be alright, you want to feel your own pain acutely and completely. And that’s what Songs of a Lost World enables.

Drug Church - Prude

Drug Church is probably the funniest band currently around. The band somehow knows exactly how to turn painful situations into something that’s a bit more easily compartmentalized without trivializing the experience. I suppose the kids call that "being relatable."

This record is also a masterclass in resignation. Just… shit happens, deal with it, the soundtrack. And that sounds slightly depressing, but also, in a realistic way, it’s a relief. No songs of glory here, just life as it happens around you. And that’s weirdly comforting.

So. Ten records that got me through the year in various ways. Not ranked, not even judged in the traditional sense, just… experienced. Experienced, and found helpful. It is my hope they might do the same for you.

If you've made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the above writing. If you did, please consider buying one of the zines I've made at my store. I still have a few left of each, so get 'em while the getting's good.