Track Review: anyway // Swim School

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Swim School are a band on the rise – the Edinburgh quartet are continuing their upward trajectory following a string of stellar tracks.

On the lead up to their highly anticipated debut EP making sense of it all, set for release on August 13th, Swim School have been making as much noise as possible – and have done so with the release of their latest track ‘anyway’.

Swim School have began to hit the UK independent scene by storm. The band’s unique and youthful blend of fuzzy, anthemic grunge and hook-filled dream-pop has gained them wide praise across the country, including a consistent radio presence throughout Scotland and set for first-time appearances at classic festivals such as Latitude. 

Returning for their third single of the year – following ‘outside’ and ‘let me inside your head’ – Swim School have released ‘anyway’, a chaotic and raw track that pulls no punches with its themes of mental health and dealing with internal insecurities. 

Swim School have once again managed to create a track which is blunt and honest without having to sacrifice their style. ‘anyway’ is a track that deals with a difficult subject matter, and the music reflects this, with rougher guitar flow and vocals which reflect the situation.

These aspect are the highlight of the track, as they work in perfect harmony to create a truly excellent story. The track, however, also features fantastic production, as the harsh vocals and more aggressive drum and guitar beats works fantastically with the rougher nature of the song.

For such a young band, they have to be commended for their ability to create a song that reflects the pain and the struggles of mental health fanatically well.  

Speaking on the track, lead vocalist Alice Johnson said: “To maintain a healthy mental state, we are advised to talk to others about how we feel, but that can be easier said than done as certain people might not feel confident in opening up … The chaos of imagery in the first 4 lines of the chorus that is then followed up by the lyrics ‘you never notice it anyway’ expresses that even though they are trying to explain what they are going through, they feel like the person listening doesn’t care nor notices. As mental illness is an invisible illness, it is easy to feel that others don’t care about your mental state when the case may be they haven’t even noticed.”

Swim School are one of the many promising bands coming out of Scotland, and have an exciting future ahead of them. The band is set to have their biggest year yet, and I for one cannot wait to see what they have in store.


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