Tiny Moving Parts, You Lost Me/Guardians
Hopeless Records

Emo’s been having a resurgence – though did it ever really go away? Tiny Moving Parts, with their blend of pop-punk, alt-rock, and good old classic emo, are one of the most exciting bands leading the charge, and latest releases Guardian and You Lost Me are brilliant reflections of the band’s roots and a hint at development to come that more than secures our faith.

You Lost Me opens with a haunting, heart-rending acoustic guitar and a melody line that twinkles drop by drop under the verse. The gorgeous, emotive verses evolves into choruses that howl out through dense riffs and drum rolls, vocalist Dylan Matthiesen delivering lyrical gems like “you crashed a car and left the wreck, you broke my heart, my head’s a mess” with stunning fervency. As quickly as it built, the track drops back to the acoustic, before swelling again at the rate it subsided. Tiny Moving Parts have crafted the quintessential emo song, complete with Midwest-trademark guitar twiddles and more emotion than we can even comprehend.

Second track Guardians is similarly brilliant, edging into La Dispute style moments as Matthiesen screams “WHY IS EVERYTHING SO SAD” as the instruments drop out for a second. The track is so rammed with desperate passion, the insistency of the guitars and the unrelenting desolation of the lyrics and vocals stunningly cathartic.

Tiny Moving Parts have proved, once again, that they’re masters of their craft, and that they’re incapable of faltering for one moment. Two tracks is hardly enough – if a follow up to 2019’s breathe is on the way, we’ll be ecstatic. But honestly, TMP have given us such perfect tracks that it’s hard not to feel satisfied anyway.

You Lost Me/Guardians is out now.