Single Review: noyou- 'Underneath the Pain'

by Will Gough

Sunderland’s indie five-piece noyou have broken into 2021 with more fresh, sparkling vibes from their new track ‘Underneath the Pain’. This track offers us more of the lively, 80s-esque soundscapes they gave us with their previous releases of ‘Bored’ and ‘Since That Day’ back last year.

‘Underneath The Pain’ immediately bursts with an upbeat, airy sound that is extremely hard to resist dancing to. The drums are energetic and driving and are accompanied by crisp keyboard and guitar work, alongside melodic but quite sad vocals. This track takes the best parts of the 80s and throws it together with modern production, great sounds, and vocals that actually make sense. ‘Underneath The Pain’ is fun, glittery, and loveable in every single way.

One can be forgiven for not realising the more sombre lyrics that don’t seem to match the song’s light tone so well. ‘Underneath The Pain’ talks about experiencing insecurity in a relationship and feeling that you’re not good enough for your partner. It does make one feel that perhaps you shouldn’t be dancing so happily to this song, but the track is fun enough that the feeling is quickly forgotten about. Noyou have given us similar melancholy packages wrapped up in bubbly, retro tunes before with their 2020 releases of ‘We’re So Sorry’ and ‘Perfect Little Vision’ and they have all been remarkable in their own regard.

It is honestly quite hard to offer criticism for this track. With the similar, peppy, electronic sound noyou offers in most of their songs, ‘Underneath The Pain’ could have easily blended into the others and not stood out on its own, but that simply is not the case here. The overall melody is unique with well-made lyricism and a sprightly sound that separates it from the other releases.

Over the last few years, noyou have shown themselves to be increasingly noteworthy with every release they have bestowed on us, and ‘Underneath The Pain’ is testimony to that. The vocals are well written and delivered well, and the band consistently create a unified, iconic sound that they have already defined for themselves, despite being relative newcomers to the music scene. Noyou have proven themselves once again to be an up-and-coming band to pay particular attention to.

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