‘I’ve been dying to let you know / Down in my soul / It’s out of control,’ confesses Joey Chiaramonte. Koyo’s vocalist is beating himself up on What I’m Worth, voicing the powerlessness he feels as everything spirals around and inside him. The eye of that storm is our setting for much of Barely Here, the quintet's second album, which lands almost three years after their mission-statement debut Would You Miss It?.

Since breaking out of Long Island’s hardcore punk scene and hurling themselves into touring life, Koyo’s storm clouds were always going to catch up with them. On the surface, Barely Here is perhaps an apology from Joey, absent from his loved ones as his band put in the yards required to fulfill their ambitions. Dig deeper, and it’s a highly complex reckoning with brotherhood, momentum and living in the present, told through their trusty weapon of choice: life-affirming pop-punk with a splash of hardcore.

‘I can’t wait another second to get home,’ urges Joey gleefully to his partner on Jet Stream Wish. On Selden Mansions, he still dreams of seeing them on the West Coast, but he’s grappling with his group’s reality (‘This choice is a burden’) and his simultaneous desire for home (‘I need Long Island now’). Joey seems to crave being wherever he isn’t, and admits that with an admirable degree of openness, attempting to stay grounded within the same song, ‘Try to be present’.

On Saying Vs Meaning and Irreversible, he lets his savage side out. It neatly offsets his vulnerability, even if it’s difficult to discern where lyrics like ‘You deserve a panic attack’ fit in the overall narrative. Sonically, Barely Here captures the chemistry of five humans in a room, which aligns with the chaos of touring from which its ideas originated.

For all Joey’s fearmongering, he can take immense pride in the manner with which Koyo communicate their ideas. In that respect, Barely Here validates every minute they spend away from home, keeping up with the pace of the life they’re building.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Knuckle Puck, Neck Deep, The Story So Far

Barely Here is released on May 8 via Pure Noise.

“Songs where I’m upset with myself are harder to write and process. It is the highest level of accountability”: Inside Koyo’s brutally honest new album

Written from the breakneck perspective of touring life, separation from loved ones and an inability to live in the moment, Koyo’s second album Barely Here is fraught with guilt and self-deprecation. Though it all feels “extremely f*cking heavy”, vocalist Joey Chiaramonte still manages to take immense pride in their journey, and the tight-knit brotherhood that holds the Long Island melodic hardcore crew together…