Last we heard from Young Heart Sparks Fire was in 2017 with the full-length release of Manifesto! – a blistering dose of rock and roll with big riffs and anthemic choruses. That’s worth noting because the newest single – “I’m Dumb (But I’m Not as Young as I Used to Be)” – takes things in a much different direction.
Awash in reverb-y guitars and shoegaze style vocals, this is a much more subdued Young Heart Sparks Fire (aka Tim Thompson). Unsurprisingly, it’s also a bit of a melancholy love song with lyrics bemoaning “love or control, you can’t have both.” A song about losing a love that also provides a reinvention of sound for the artist could be a very telling experience; even if that is reading far too into it.
The b-side, “Love is Suicide,” continues the re-invention of the outfits sound by providing clearly programmed drums, borderline 80’s goth vocal delivery and a mesmerizing dose of keyboards. It’s unclear if this overhaul in sound is a natural progression of experimentation and growth or a knowing redefinition of self but, whatever it is, it’s working.