Following an extensive touring schedule to promote their incredible 2022 debut ‘Where the Heart Is’, Zayna Youssef of Sweet Pill hit a wall when it came to writing the follow-up. After realising it was 50/50 blockage and being hard on herself, she started writing collaboratively with fellow band members guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney – resulting in ‘Still There is a Glow’, an album that finds purpose in the suffering.

‘Sunblind’ opens the album in pulsating fashion with in-your-face riffs and synths, its fast-paced drums immediately demanding attention as Zayna pleads ‘clear the air with every breath you breathe, say the words you really mean’. This is followed by ‘Shameless’, a stop-start emo revival-esque song that flits between Minus the Bear and Tigers Jaw with the acute observation that ‘it’s all about perspective’.

There’s a self-deprecation running through ‘No Control’ as Zayna ponders how ‘Talk is cheap so I am rambling’ and belts out the words ‘who cares if it hurts with true passion. ‘Glow’ offers an insight into an anxious mind full of conflicting thoughts – ‘In the back of my head, I’m stuck on what you said. I’m pulling every word apart’ – while ‘Slow Burn’ is engulfed in the heaviest riffs on the record so far.

The melodic stylings on ‘Smoke Screen’ are reminiscent of Sweet Pill’s former tour mates Into It. Over It. as the band find themselves ‘begging for clarity’ before ‘Makes Me Sick’ talks about not being able to give up cigarettes and overthinking before taking responsibility: ‘I’m making excuses’. ‘Rotten’ is another song where Zayna is taking no prisoners, delivering the venomous words ‘all the sweetest nothings start to turn sour’ amidst a slew of huge guitar sounds.

‘Holding On’ is altogether more subtle with talk of things going on and on and a plea to ‘spare what you can’ before building into a crescendo of hooks, synths and driving bass. The closing ‘Letting Go’ finds nostalgia taking over as Zayna recalls the house she grew up in and how ‘I still see that kid, daydreaming’ before a flourish of Grandaddy-esque synths and crushing guitar combine to back up her looking forward: ‘There’s progress each day’.

‘Still There is a Glow’ is a record that takes pride in shining bright, even when you’re giving yourself the toughest of times.