"Floreani’s solo release is a solid indie-rock-folk hybrid hell bent on sharing life experiences from a raw perspective. 'Sin' is a powerful and emotional rollercoaster ready to be blasted on warm summer nights. When an album truly hits you, it’s hard to find the right words to explain why you like it or why it hit you so hard, but I hope that I did it justice."
-
Must Listen
Review by Erika Kellerman
John Floreani is a firecracker just exposed to a flame – his journey is one of the most exciting to follow. Each release has a spark that manages to not fizzle out. And with each project he releases, he manages to make them sound and feel different from the last, yet has elements of his past projects in each.
Floreani is also a storyteller. His songs are personal, filled to the brim with imagery. The deep cutting lyrics layered in each track bring out the best and worst in each listener, taking them for a ride through various emotions.
Sin, Floreani’s debut as himself (via Hopeless Records), not Little Brother or with his other bandmates in Trophy Eyes, is genuine, candid and raw. He doesn’t hesitate to cover “touchy” topics like addiction, suicide or bad blood between family members. Trophy Eyes didn’t/doesn’t shy away from these various themes either, but John Floreani explores them in greater detail.
Sin starts off by throwing the listener off a cliff, sending them straight into Floreani’s familial matters. “Oh Brother” carries the album from point A to point B, sharing a story of disappointment and being the only person that believes or is invested in their brother, but is ultimately let down and in result, wants nothing to do with the other person.
“Oh Brother” transitions into “Don’t Wait Up,” “Echoes,” “Cocaine,” and then “Ugly Love”- which all happen to be different takes on love songs. This isn’t “oh, your hair, your eyes, the way your body moves” adoration, but rather when discussing love, the Australian singer is honest and open about his demons, ones that could be ruining his relationship.
“Ugly Love,” my favorite from Sin, is a realistic love song. If Bleachers and The Beach Boys had a child, it would be this song. The xylophone, guitar, hand clapping, synth and steady beat create a nostalgic and carefree feeling.
On the first listen of “Ugly Love,” it felt like I was seeing a sunset for the first time. I wanted to bask in the light that was John Floreani’s affectionate, but realistic outlook on relationships. He doesn’t sugarcoat the things about ourselves we do and don’t like; The parts of relationships that aren’t written about in most songs. Floreani wants his relationship to work, more than most things in the world. His love is ugly, but it’s real and true.
“Repent” and “Before the Devil Knows I’m Dead” are fascinating to me. Growing up Catholic, or in another branch of Christianity, sticks with a person, especially into adulthood, whether they still practice or not. The images, bible readings and time spent between pews and altars are the things that people carry with them.
Sin’s cover art features Floreani in a bath of water, almost an allusion to being baptized. This image of being baptized could relate back to this project’s storytelling, an almost cleansing of Floreani’s worries, anxieties and grudges.
“Repent” and “Before the Devil Knows I’m Dead” remind me of Johnny Cash country-rock tunes, which could be pure coincidence as Cash was a devout Christian. In “Before the Devil Knows I’m Dead,” “pray for me” is said over a beat and then later in the track, “I wanna make it to heaven before the devil knows I’m dead” is repeated over an acoustic backing. These words have more weight than usual- this is a want to follow a loved one into the afterlife, even if he doesn’t believe an afterlife to be true. Floreani is asking his girlfriend, “do you still want to be with me even though I won’t be there truly forever?”
Floreani’s solo release is a solid indie-rock-folk hybrid hell bent on sharing life experiences from a raw perspective. Sin is a powerful and emotional rollercoaster ready to be blasted on warm summer nights. When an album truly hits you, it’s hard to find the right words to explain why you like it or why it hit you so hard, but I hope that I did it justice.
Thank you, John Floreani.
