By John Faussemagne
The second in a trilogy, Lust for Life… brings back the fun, hard-hitting anthems of electronic-infused indie rock that brought them to the mainstage in the first place. At the beginning of the 2020s, Courting came onto the scene with fast-paced and catchy rock anthems like “David Byrn’s Badside” and “Popshop.” After a well-regarded EP and catchy album, the band returned in 2024 with New Last Name. New Last Name saw Courting diving more into the poppier stylings of the indie rock genre, “We Look Good Together (Big Words)” for example sounds more like The 1975 than it does Courting. This album let many critics and fans down given how universally beloved the first two projects were. However, in late 2024, the single “Pause at You” seemed like a return to form.
Courting announced the album stating “3 ALBUMS 3 YEARS AND NOTHING ELSE.” Lust for Life is seemingly the second album of a trilogy before Courting disbands. It’s bittersweet as a new album is always something to be celebrated, but many went into it knowing this would be one of the last. Lust for Life starts with a beautiful string arrangement before transitioning to “Stealth Rollback,” a harsher song with industrial instrumentation that’s in direct contrast with the string melodies of the intro. The lead single for the album “Pause at You” follows as a stellar showcase of how good Courting is at making a catchy song that is still plenty exciting. The vocals are gritty, the guitar is heavy, and the drum progression is atypical and interesting. The chorus is incredibly catchy, however, the next song “Namcy” contains maybe the best hook lead singer Sean Murphy-O’Neil has ever written. “Eleven Sent” sees the band merging the poppier sound of their previous record with elements of rock, jazz, and even classical music. The song takes elements from a myriad of genres to create a beautiful stand-alone piece.
This brings me to my favorite song on the album “After You” which was the second single released. It’s the noisiest cut on the album and brings back the gritty vocal sounds of the first single, but also is incredibly well-written. Up there with the chorus of “Namcy,” another bright point on this album is right after the first chorus. Courting drops the fuzz for a 16 count with a quick build-up before bringing the energy again for the second verse. While it is my favourite track, it also brings me to my biggest qualm with the project: There isn’t more of it. I know people often say the only issue with something is that there isn’t more in a sarcastic manner, however, I truly mean this. The album is 25 minutes long with 8 songs, 2 of which are an intro and outro (and the outro is a callback to the intro). With three singles that leaves us with… 3 new songs? The album is wonderful, but I feel like I have heard it already.
The penultimate track is also the longest, which is fitting as it is the title track. Courting brings the energy to a standstill for the first part of “Lust for Life”, allowing them to experiment with electronic instruments and a saxophone. The song slowly begins to pick up, bringing these instruments together with the rock band sound to create a beautiful mesh before ending… midway through the track. The second half contains another fun and catchy cut with more charismatic singing out of Sean.
Courting came back on Lust for Life with another fun album full of tracks to listen to over and over again. I’m extremely happy they continued in this direction while keeping some of the pop influence as opposed to continuing to go more toward a poppier sound as they did on their last record. It leaves me more excited to see what is to come on their next and possibly final album. I just hope that if this is the beginning of the end, Courting leaves us with more tracks on the final album.
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