Still House Plants – If I don’t make it, I love u

Albums of the Year 2024 – Number 83

‘If I don’t make it, I love u’ is Still House Plants third LP and the fullest embodiment of their sound to date. Where Fast Edit formed with quick attachment and jump cuts, If I don’t make it is shaped by persistence – a commitment to the songs that makes the music solid, warmer and accepted.

Marking the trio’s decade of friendship, this is the first record written whilst all live in the same city since 2017’s Assemblages. The band rehearsed it relentlessly, playing for nobody except themselves, consistently building support for one another and growing the way they play. Jess’ voice is deeper. Fin’s guitar is full size, richer. David drums harder. Focused on one point together, everyone gets bigger and nothing falls apart. The guitar and the drums blend, raise the voice, make room for what is being said, what is felt. When able to finally record, production allowed layers, gave elasticity, a chance to fully stretch. Playing with length and connections, the band brought in analogue techniques – a Lesley cabinet on ‘Headlight’, sidechaining the snare with the guitar, pushing vocals through cheap DJ software – each process an attempt to bring one instrument closer to another, to give bass, body, backup.

If I don’t make it, I love u seeks beauty, holds feeling maximum and builds surety with its sound. The most generous SHP record to date, the music is wide open, demands less. Play it again, it will come clear.