Photo by Deanie Chen

Toxic positivity never did anyone good, and since tearing through grief processes with their two-fold Superman punch into the existentialism of it all with their 2018 debut, Springtime and Blind, and 2021′s Between the Richness, Fiddlehead have shown us why it’s better to confront the pain head-on. Still, because you talk it out doesn’t mean that any of it automatically disappears. “Sullenboy”, the lead single from the Boston post-hardcore band’s third studio effort, Death Is Nothing to Us, is them showing us where you go from there with these lingering feelings. An acknowledgment of them is a start, and one way of freeing yourself from the burden you’d otherwise carry in silence, with Pat Flynn being both the vessel and conduit over the listen’s gravel-stirring unease. “I feel the fear I can’t repair / Broken records of family trees / I feel the fear I will repeat,” he tremors beneath its weight. This forces a reaction rather than a collapse, however, and presses a new purpose from his shoulders. “So face it / Face it all / Replace it with love.” Better than grin and bearing it, emotions are best foiled by understanding what their kryptonite is.

Directed by: Alex Henery

Fiddlehead’s Death Is Nothing to Us will be released August 18th on Run for Cover Records.