ALBUM REVIEW: City and Colour Grapples With Loss on ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’

City and Colour has never been a band to bring a “sound of summer” feel-good hit to the table. Since its founding in 2005, the solo moniker of Alexisonfire guitarist Dallas Green has been known for atmospheric lyrics. City and Colour’s new album, The Love Still Held Me Near, may be his most emotionally raw yet, exploring themes of lost love (both platonic and romantic), mortality, and the limits of religious faith.

The album’s first single, opening track “Meant to Be,” sets the tone out of the gate. An ode to a friend lost in 2019, Green begins by noting “When I grew up / I had big city dreams / I wondered if the Bible was wrong / What in the hell were they teaching me?” After the loss of his friend, he returned to those doubts about God’s plan, singing “I don’t believe / this is how it’s meant to be / The church bells they ring / you can hear the mourners sing / they still believe this is how it’s meant to be.” Anchored by Green’s raw falsetto, it’s a song that’s hard to get out of your head.

Another song that tries to cope with the faith required of religious belief is “Hard, Hard Time.” Here, Green seems to plead with someone choosing whether to end their life, “I have a hard, hard time believing / that anything on the other side / could be better than the love that you’re leaving / when you finally close your eyes / so live your life.” Within that plea, he looks at his own mortality, noting “All my debts will go unpaid / living in this everlasting judgment day.”

Romance also gets its moment in the light on The Love Still Held Me Near, courtesy of one of the more frank breakup songs you’ll likely ever hear, “Fucked It Up.” While conveying serious pain, the song is almost humorous in its frankness. “We had everything we needed / but it wasn’t enough / Ain’t it strange how we keep falling / in and out of love? / We had everything we wanted / then we fucked it up.” What starts as a gentle acoustic guitar ballad sees an electric guitar weave in and out after the first chorus, almost signifying disharmony in the relationship before launching into a rocking slide guitar solo by the end, the disharmony turning into a full-throated scream.

Great art is often born from the ashes of pain, and that’s certainly the case with The Love Still Held Me Near. The twin punch of Green’s friend’s death and a pandemic that left few people who weren’t touched by a death was turned into an album that is alternately devastating and heartfelt.

City and Colour’s The Love Still Held Me Near is out March 31 via Still Records/Dine Alone Records