Petal is a project lead by Pennsylvania’s Kiley Lotz, who back in 2015 released a debut album Shame, which established a brand of introspective and emotive indie rock. Now Petal are back with a sophomore effort, Magic Gone, which sees Lotz develop further, adding an impressive musical confidence to the introspection, exploring real-life struggles with clear-eyed sincerity and moving emotional intensity. Label Run for Cover Records describe it as “a bitingly honest look at adulthood, accountability, responsibility, and mental health and the difficulties that go along with each of them.”
The album can be split into two distinct halves, which Lotz says captures the twin thematic threads of the record. “Tightrope Walker/Miracle Clinger are the two worlds I was living in,” she says, “becoming very skilled at a dangerous performance, which has great consequences if you fail, and also clinging onto the idea that there is hope in all this pain and maybe there will be some great resolution beyond my control.” This duality serves as the driving tension of Magic Gone, an immediate pressure versus distant hope, where pain and sadness can be explored without becoming suffocating, a path to light just visible, no matter how long and winding.
Big crunchy guitars and slapped drums herald ‘Better Than You’, perhaps the record’s most bombastic moment, and an immediate sign that Petal intends to tackle the themes of anxiety and self-doubt with an almost paradoxical blaze of defiance. But, as this is the first half of Magic Gone (AKA Tightrope Walker), these songs are all based on the idea of putting on an act, of trying to continue through a situation that is precarious and ultimately unhealthy. This is equally apparent through ‘Tightrope’ with its sense of desperation and unsustainability, and ‘I’m Sorry’, which recalls Hop Along in its vocal intensity, Lotz’s voice rising in pure emotion as she sings,
“When did it get so personal?
I can’t remember
Even though I’ve tried
Just like a black hole
We collapsed and all
Of our friends stayed in orbit
Because we lied”
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On the surface, the songs on the record’s second half (titled Miracle Clinger) are slower and sadder, often sparse arrangements of guitar and piano. But things are more complex than that. These songs were written in the aftermath of Lotz’s breakdown, during a period of recovery, and as the title suggests they contain a lot more hope than it might appear at first glance. ‘Shy’ feels like it’s been carved out of some shadowy material, as Lotz confronts her problems with a sense of determination (“And I know I’m shy / My act is strong”), while ‘Shine’ sees self-confidence begin to poke through.
But it’s on closer ‘Stardust’ that the change really becomes apparent. Both a fierce love song and a rousing acceptance of circumstances, the track is emotionally intense, based on a gentle piano line and Lotz’s charged vocals. The song serves as a finale for the album, a culmination of all the thoughts and feelings that have come before. It finds Lotz reflective, as if she has finally gotten to a place where she can look back on what’s gone on with some kind of context, and having the realisation that even the most difficult moments ultimately allow us to grow.
“Now we’re living in shitty apartments
With mismatched dishes, unlike our parents
Maybe we’d make good parents?
Maybe not, I can’t say
Ooh I can’t say, ooh I can’t say
I didn’t love you”
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Magic Gone is out now on Run For Cover Records. Get it from their website (US/UK/AUS), or the Petal Bandcamp page.
