It’s hard to be your best self when the world around you isn’t. On “It Hurts”, Secret World are contending with the battle to be better with a tried and true way that the best people of the hardcore scene always know works: holding yourself accountable. Still, it’s a painful process, and on the latest single from the Sydney rockers, they’re not shying away from that fact. Their method of working it out through riffing on aggressive melodic hardcore and popping off an anthem comes at you in a similar strain of offering as to what modern wavers like Drug Church and Militarie Gun are doing in breaking down barriers in the mind with their message. Secret World make it sound like a kind of spiritual communion with the self that leaves all ego at the door. “In my heart, I’m always doing what I can / To be someone who tries and wants to understand,” vocalist Ryan Pond hails in its ascendent chorus. Maybe he’s not there just yet, but he’s trying, and so are Secret World in leaving an impression with impact behind it.

Directed by: Jack Rudder & Ryan Pond

Secret World’s “It Hurts” single is available now on Last Ride Records / Sundy Drive Records.