The Plot In You battle mental illness in relationships with 'Face Me'

2 August 2021 | 12:05 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

The Plot In You continue to blend poppiness & heaviness better than many of their peers on 'Face Me.'

The Plot In You continue to subversively blend poppiness & heaviness better than their peers on 'Face Me.' 



Looking at the title of The Plot In You's upcoming record, 'Swan Song,' you would be forgiven for thinking that it's their last album with a name like that. It's not. Rather, its frontman and lead creative force, Landon Tewers, bottling up all the old negative bullshit in his life and hurling it into the figurative ocean, done with it all. "It was therapeutic to dispense all of these painful things from the past and wash out the negativity," Daddy Landon said recently. Before 'Swan Song' (artwork below) arrives on September 17th through the Fearless Records crowd, the band offered up its first cut to the analytical listening chopping block last week: 'Face Me.'

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According to Landon and the band, 'Face Me' was the first song written for this new album way back in 2019. So it perhaps makes sense that its the first new song released since 2018's genre-bending and brutally honest pop-metal portfolio, 'Dispose.' In a nutshell, 'Face Me' addresses the “intricacies of a relationship where one person is severely mentally distraught." There's despair and pain in this song, but also love and hope, even with the tough-to-swallow honesty of the verses. To literally, physically, face your partner so they see you for you, accepting you for all of the good and the bad, and still make it work. To not be the love that they prevailed and to fully weather the storm together. A theme that's as tonally dynamic as the music itself.

In many ways, the unexpected twist and turns of 'Face Me' reminds me of the subversive opening track from their last album, the glorious 'Rigged.' This is the next step forward in that weird direction, with hints of 'Feel Nothing' heard. Plot are one of the rare acts in this scene that can acutely blend poppiness and heaviness to such a gripping effect. It has a strong, dry percussive feel for maximum impact, distorted bottom-end, wobbling synths, noisy electronics, pitched-up voices, as well as Landon's soothing singing and well-held emotional screams to grab anyone's attention. Whether they be old or new fans. It's a super interesting arrangement, seeing Plot continuing to grow this new hybrid sound that they've been cultivating the last few years. I'm here for it; bring on more next month!