Before they became known stars, the Highly Suspect could be seen singing cover songs of their favorite artists, such as Sublime, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd at their local pubs in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Nowadays, they’re a two-time Grammy-nominated band, and the Highly Suspect, just released their second studio album, The Boy Who Died Wolf, on November 18th. You could say a lot has changed. This second studio album was recorded and produced by Joel Hamilton in Bogotá, Colombia as well as Brooklyn New York. In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Highly Suspect vocalist Johnny Stevens said the album’s title was inspired by the group’s rough road to stardom in Cape Cod.
The first single on the album is titled “My Name is Human”. It’s a very upbeat song fused together with some catchy lyrics. As I listened to Highly Suspect’s new album, I have genuinely grown to love them, just like many of you readers have. I’ve realized that they’re a completely different band from when their story began. The struggles they faced on their roller coaster ride to stardom can very much be felt in their album.The Boy Who Died Wolf has a completely different vibe from their first album Mister Asylum. It’s a lot more slow-paced and each song brings out a lot of emotion.
My personal favorite on the album is track seven; a song called “Send Me An Angel”. This song incorporates a bunch of different instruments, and is very soothing especially for this fall weather. The Highly Suspect’s older music is noticeably faster paced, and is more amped up at the start of their songs. “Send Me An Angel” starts off very mellow and then picks up when the chorus introduces a strong guitar solo.
Johnny Stevens starts the song singing:
Do you believe in heaven above?
Do you believe in love?
Don’t tell a lie.
Don’t be false and untrue.
It all comes back to you.
I love how his lyrics are so truthful; Steven questions faith, he questions love, I mean we all do it sometimes, we’re so unsure of what’s ahead in our futures.
Skip down a couple of tracks to the song “Chicago”, where Steven is singing about a past relationship. The whole song talks about that last weekend they had together before he screwed up. I love the truthfulness and the story Steven tells as he sings this song.
He sings:
Baby I met you in downtown Chicago
But I had to drive away the very next day
So I flew your pretty ass to New York city
And I left you in LA
I hope you fans out there enjoy this new album. The Boy Who Died Wolf will hopefully get Highly Suspect nominated for another Grammy this year.
