On their podcast the other week, Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were bemoaning the fact that there were no protest songs anymore (this critique rather neglects artists like Jesse Welles, but whatever).
Instead, they said it was all about the personal. They argued that it didn’t take bravery to write from your perspective.
I enjoy their musings, but at the same time, I’d like them to listen to “Hurricane” and tell me it doesn’t take “bravery” to write about a miscarriage.
What is interesting, however, is the upbeat music. Ben Stewart’s goal for this was “wanted it to be a really solid rock album that had no filler on it,” which might explain it, and to be fair to the singer/guitarist, “Forgiving Spree” pulls it off.
The title track might have the Gaslight Anthem looking on with envy, and “Gimmie The Wrench” (described as “an Eye Of The Tiger” moment by Stewart) has a chorus belonging in arenas.
That could be levelled at all of them; “How Are You Mine” is simple, fun pop music, and that’s just fine.
Citing Springsteen and The Killers as influences is backed up by recording some of these in the US, and there’s that flavour about “All Time” and “Love Letters”.
There’s an 80s influence about “That’s That”—think of it as having a strut with Level 42 right down to the saxophone.
In another world, this might have been a late-90s emo record; “Meltdown Masquerade” gets close, but listen closer, and it is a really clever track.
“Born Free” is as close as this gets to a ballad as Stewart finds a kind of Elliot Smith falsetto, but even it can’t resist seeing the credits roll with a quite mighty crescendo.
It brings “Forgiving Spree” to quite an end, and it’s quite an album. Enough crossover potential to do mighty things, it’s the sound of a band that wants things done fast.
Rating 8/10
REVIEW: SLOWLY SLOWLY – FORGIVING SPREE (2025)
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