Sweet Pill Show Off And Find Themselves In ‘Still There’s A Glow’

Philly-based emo rockers Sweet Pill have returned with their sophomore record, in ‘Still There’s a Glow’. This marks their first release since the ‘Starchild’ EP in 2024, and the follow-up to their debut record, ‘Where the Heart Is’, in 2022. This album dives even deeper into what makes this band so special and stand out amongst many in the emo genre today. It has such a subtle and firm sense of identity in each of these songs, and it’s hard not to embrace a record like this one.

The record dives into multiple genres, and incorporating sounds new to the band. They dabble in more punk and aggressive leaning tracks like “No Control”, “Slow Burn”, and “Rotten”. These tracks, while on the new side of the band’s sound, really feel right at home in what they’re about and what they’d wanna get across. They also have plenty of wonderful sounding instrumentals where it creates such a beautiful environment for the listener, in songs such as “Glow”, “Tough Love”, and “What the Devil Is Calling”.  This record really feels very in the moment lyrically, as it dives into what a person is feeling moment to moment in their life. And I think the final track in “Letting Go” really hits the nail on the head of what the theme is, which is letting go of who you used to be and growing more and more as a person. 

The band’s two vocalists, Zayna Youssef and Sean McCall, have so many moments on this record with hard to beat back and forth vocals. In songs like “Shameless”, “Smoke Screen”, and “Jinx”. It gives off a lot of vibes from a band like Tigers Jaw, and you can definitely tell the influence there. McCall especially gives off a hell of a verse in “Smoke Screen”. And Zayna sounds absolutely masterclass in the more softer leaning track with “Tough Love”. The drumming by Chris Kearney also go absolutely nuts on songs like the opener “Sunblind”, as well as the penultimate track in “Holding On”. I gotta give a shoutout to the production on this as well, as it feels sludgy and crunchy when it needs to be. It’s really perfect for an emo record such as this one. 

I genuinely think ‘Still There’s a Glow’ feels like Sweet Pill have already one upped themselves on their sophomore release. It really feels like they’ve refined their sound, as well as expanded upon it across these 13 tracks. They’re easily one of the best bands in the genre right now, and they have a very bright future ahead of them with a record like this one.