Atlanta-based indie/alt-rock/pop outfit abandcalledlove was formed in 2020 by frontman Ryan Chandler Love and guitarist/producer Ian Joshua Riley and has since grown to be rounded out by Blake Aldridge (guitar), Brooks Roberts (bass), and Austin Yagle (drums). The band’s first single, “Colors Bloom,” made waves, leading to the band selling out their debut show at The Masquerade in 2021. Now they’re gearing up for the release of their debut EP Thriving Season, which is out September 26.
Today the band are debuting the single “The Love I Can’t Let Go,” the second single off the upcoming EP. The single is out tomorrow on streaming services, but right now, you can hear it right here a day early. With an energetic beat that perfectly backs up the bold, confident vocals, “The Love I Can’t Let Go” is a gorgeous pop track with the weight of rock behind it.
“‘The Love I Can’t Let Go’ began as a rhythmic, darker, and moodier synth-rock idea with a simple groove I started writing in Logic Pro in December of 2019,” explains Love about the song. “Originating as such a rudimentary idea built around a pretty basic drum loop, it’s one that I would have never thought would end up being my favorite track on our debut EP. Sometime in 2022, about a year into playing the first handful of abandcalledlove shows, I dug the session back up, finished the basic structure of the demo, and then sent it over to the guys for opinions. I started writing lyrics shortly after.
“Lyrically, ‘The Love I Can’t Let Go’ is largely about my past struggles with addiction (particularly as an alcoholic) and wanting desperately to get to a place where I didn’t need it, while also employing the lens of a toxic relationship as a framing device, which, as anyone who’s battled addiction can tell you—It very much is,” he continues. “There was a period where I literally couldn’t sleep without drinking, and I articulated that just as literally in the chorus. I wanted to paint a vivid, intentional picture for people who don’t or can’t understand what dealing with alcoholism can feel like by framing it as something a wider audience can relate to.
“Despite the stark awareness of what I was doing to myself, I found myself coming back to it daily, drinking excessively with seemingly no control or power over the impulse. Because the song’s composition and production (especially the moodier electronic elements, as well as the poppier verse and chorus melody ideas) started to materialize more substantially at about the same time the habit was taking a heavy toll on my daily life, the rest of the song’s lyrics ended up coming pretty naturally around then, too. I remember feeling so broken and low one particular day, sitting in front of my studio computer and crying my eyes out while typing the lyrics into a note in my phone. Reflecting on it now, especially after recently celebrating two years of sobriety, I can confidently say I couldn’t be more proud of a song on this EP than I am of ‘The Love I Can’t Let Go.'”
Check out the track below.
