When things feel hard to say, it’s sometimes easier to write them down. That’s what Dortmund quartet Letters Sent Home do on their debut album, Forever Undone. It’s a purging of emotions from dealing with trauma, even though it’s often scary to share such detail.
Across 11 tracks, Forever Undone dips a toe into pop-punk, heavy rock, and even dark, electronic pop. Standouts come from tracks such as Request Denied, which explores acceptance and understanding when it comes to mental health – ‘Let’s face it there’s no heaven, disappointing but at least I learned my lesson’, sings Emily Paschke – and Elements, bringing solemn piano which at first feels like Evanescence, though it later takes the listener through bursts of jagged electronic synth and trap beats. Then Sadists brings a similar energy, throbbing in and out with a cyber-goth trance ‘phonk’.
Although there’s a lot to take in instrumentally, Emily’s vocals feel reflective of the album’s core message – in parts, her voice is delicate and graceful, but just as meaningful as if she were to scream, proving that softness can also mean strength.