‘Like Love’ heralds The Amity Affliction’s heart-wrenching return to the scene

Content warning: this article discusses suicide and drug use themes

Australian metal four-piece The Amity Affliction have dropped their first new music in over 18 months with the new single, Like Love.

The band released the track on Wednesday morning, dedicating it to their “dear friend” Sean Kennedy, former I Killed the Prom Queen and Deez Nuts bassist who died in February this year at 35. 

The band regularly touches on difficult topics like mental health and suicide, and this new song is no different.

With heartbreaking lyrics like, “another star fell out of the sky, the night you took your own life,” The Amity Affliction is not holding back with sharing their pain lyrically with listeners.

Just in case you missed it on my Twitter feed, here are the lyrics to Like Love everyone ❤️ Joel pic.twitter.com/zHC08VuQ5v — The Amity Affliction (@amityaffliction) September 14, 2021

In a statement alongside the release, the band said:

“The song shifts between positive and negative, hope and hopelessness, and draws on an intimate knowledge of drug use and depression and how the two are often inextricably linked in their personal devastation, while also acknowledging the peace for those who suffer once they are gone.”

Ahren Stringer and Joel Birch’s vocals complement each other in a soaring array of light and dark, building up to The Amity Affliction’s signature orchestral crescendo, and a certifiably heavy breakdown that has fans online raving.

Some fans are even going as far as to say Like Love heralds a return to the Youngbloods album era sound for the band.

The single is accompanied by a gut-wrenching new music video, and if the weight of the song’s themes weren’t clear enough in the lyrics, the video hits it home.

Directed by Birch, the video sees a couple struggling with drug abuse, spliced between shots of Birch and Stringer, visibly distraught as they deliver their cathartic vocals.

Heavy music fans can expect to hear Like Love, alongside the band’s most recent album Everyone Loves You…Once You Leave Them when they co-headline UNIFY Gathering in January prior to their rescheduled February headline tour.

Until then, fans will have to keep their eye out for more news if more singles – or maybe an album – are on the horizon.

Link to the song: https://youtu.be/Sxo727bQFRo