Jessica VanWhy
News Editor
The band The Neighbourhood released a new album called “(((((ultraSOUND)))))” on November 14. They finally returned to the studio after their hiatus in 2022 and they have not changed one bit.
Their melancholic pop-rock sound is still the same as it has always been from the beginning. The lead singer, Jesse Rutherford, portrays the lyrics like a longing poet; something that is to be expected considering the band’s known aesthetic.
Even though most of the songs do not have a completely unique sound to them instrumentally, they all have a different emotion caused by the lyrics. Some songs give the feel of a depression longing others having a bit of a calm happy feeling of almost reminiscing pleasant memories.
The first song on the album is called “Hula Girl” and in my opinion one of the most concerning songs on the album, because it quite literally tells a story about a car crash and the person crashing through the window. But the song is captivating, romanticizing a dashboard hula girl in a way that makes you forget that the song is talking about a tragic accident.
Currently coming in with the most listens on the album according to Spotify is “Private,” which has a dance-like vibe to it that is extremely catchy. The bass line throughout the song makes the song compelling. I found myself dancing and bobbing my head to the beat without even noticing.
The second most listened song on the album according to Spotify is “Lovebomb” and when you listen to the lyrics it takes you through a type of story of lovebombing. The outro to the song is my favorite part of the song because of the repetitive singsong words.
One of my favorite songs off the album was called “Lil Ol Me.” I don’t know if it was the name that had me hooked or the haunting sound of the song. Both of those things combined with the sad lyrics made it easy to click the “add to liked songs” on Spotify.
The song with the cutest name has to be “Daisy Chain,” a sad song that I interpreted as a relationship that had taken an abusive turn. This song also has a captivating haunting sound to it that makes you turn and listen.
My favorite song is the last song on the album. “Stupid Boy” actually has a tortured scream in it, something I’ve never heard The Neighbourhood do, and I’ve been listening to them since Tumblr was the hottest blog website. It’s a sweet sounding song which contrasts with the almost suicidal lyrics.
This album exceeded my expectations, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for this album being as good as it was.
The type of music The Neighbourhood makes is my favorite to listen to and this album transported me to a time in my life that I like to think of as a monumental time in my life. Their new songs captivated me in a way music hasn’t done for over a year for me.
I can’t wait to see what The Neighbourhood produces in the future and I can’t wait to see who they go on tour with in 2026.