Singer-songwriter Joe Hicks has released his second studio album Before It Gets Dark. The album follows his 2022 debut The Best I Could Do At The Time and Hicks has lent into a rockier edge for this new offering.
The album opens with debut single Time is a Thief. Off-kilter percussion is our introduction before the guitars take centre-stage and vie for attention as the chorus of “Can you feel it now? Time is a thief in the brain” rolls around. Hicks’ vocal is controlled and smooth, hitting high notes at the chorus and displaying his range and emotional connection to the track. In 2024, Hicks was going through a breakup as well as coping with the loss of his father and he poured this grief into his song writing, which shines through in lyrics such as “I don’t know where I lost the key. Maybe it fell into the darkness taking hold of me.” The track’s lyrics portray Hicks’ temptation to give up and the poignancy of how these negative thoughts fight against his positivity for the future. It mimics how he felt pulled in two directions during this very difficult time in his life. Soaring guitar solos thread their way through the track and the layering of the guitars with the addictive percussion beat and Hicks’ airy vocal create a vibrant and stimulating soundscape.
The Architect marries plucky guitars with heavier riffs, always allowing Hicks’ gentle vocal to shine through. With lyrics such as “It’s only love but it tears me apart… I never thought it would be this hard” Hicks gives us insight into how he felt during the coping with the new reality he faced during the breakdown of his relationship and the loss of his father.
Heart In Two is a guitar-heavy ode where Hicks’ pain and angst is palpable. Gentle strums and a choppy beat set the scene as Hicks sings about “searching for his truth” within a world where we’re bombarded by ideal images of the perfect life. We’re all well aware of the toxicity of comparing our lives to those of others we see on social media and Heart In Two highlights the negatives of this and urges us to focus on self-care and looking inwardly for happiness. At the chorus he launches into the relatable words: “everyone I see they’ve got it all figured out, quick out the block, ducks in a row, ticks in a box but I didn’t want to break my heart in, I didn’t want to break my heart in two.” The gentle keys compliment the stripped-back beat and allow Hicks’ emotional vocal to really shine. Hicks’ high notes soar as the guitars reach a crescendo and the delicate nature of his vocal further feeds into the melancholy nature of the track.
If Only leans into the folk-inflected tones we’re used to hearing from Hicks with gentle percussion and a light-hearted melody to accompany the melancholy lyrics “And I, I would give, give you the world.” A gorgeous guitar solo lend the track a European vibe with it sounding almost like a mandolin. Heartfelt lyrics are the basis of Five Into One where Hicks sings “On and on, what are you waiting for? Five Into One, what are you wating for? Something more than this?” Towards the end there’s a burst of guitar riffs which lend the track a darker edge and that rolls across like a tidal wave, subsiding just as quickly as it arrives.
More To Me is undeniably more uptempo in pace and is a brilliant choppy, indie-sounding track which was the first one Hicks wrote for the album: “One afternoon I was driving down a single-track English countryside road, pitch black with rain hammering down as it was February, and the verse just appeared.” You could say that Hicks has experienced quite the rollercoaster in his life recently, so what better name for a track describing his lost love. Rollercoaster possesses a catchy chorus of “And it feels so right, loving you is like a rollercoaster. And it feels so light holding on” which is peppered with sadness as you realise Hicks was fighting to keep the flame of his relationship alight. Another soaring guitar solo and some funky riffs make this a stand-out on the album.
In synth-heavy Maybe, Hicks contemplates whether his relationship was “all a dream”, his memory blurred by and eyes blinded by the throes of love. The tempo is taken down a notch with In The Silence where Hicks’ vocal is delicate and raw in the lyrics “I’ll stand by you, I’ll help you through, I’ll share in all the memories.”
Face The Stone brings the rocky guitar riffs back to the fore as we’re reaquainted with Hicks’ charismatic front-man persona. Thrashing guitars provide an ultra cool backdrop for Hicks to allow his vocals to sweep and soar.
Final track Over And Out leans into the melancholy again as we revisit the heartbreak that the album is borne from. Hicks noted that “Lyrically it’s about loss, and worrying about the further passage of time with further losses. It’s wondering how you will cope when more people close to you leave your life. It’s a call out to my Dad in the most despairing part of grief.” The lyrics are heavy with Hicks grief and the ode “If the world keeps turning, who’ll be left to catch me when I fall?” resonates long after the closing note.
Originally from Newbury in Berkshire, Joe Hicks released his first single in 2017. He has since toured across the UK and Europe, played at festivals such as CarFest and Pub in the Park and has supported Sam Fender, Seafret and Starsailor.
Before It Gets Dark is available to stream now. Find out more about Joe Hicks here and have a listen to Before It Gets Dark below.