The Early November
The Empress

It’s just six days before the album arrives and The Early November gift us a salty packet of nuts to make sure we’re thirsty for it. ‘The Empress’ has all the good stuff, rhythm, chops, melody, and emotion.

While I could end the review there, I feel that I want to say just a little more before throwing you into the video (which, by the way, follows the pattern set by its predecessors, but is strangely sentimental). I want to mention that introductory rhythm; the drums and guitar zipping off each other and creating a perfect offering for the verse.

The pre-chorus floats along the surface of a sparkling lake, bouncing gently over the rippling waves, and the chorus is suitably anthemic. The song plants the ‘we all want the same thing’ line in your head and it will follow you around the whole day.

This song is about how hard it is to hold it together sometimes.. we have to pretend a lot of the time to keep existing in the entertainment world. I can’t say enough how grateful I am… but I also can’t say it’s been a walk in the park. Emotionally I have been devastated many times, got back up to be knocked over again… and as a result, just kind of feel an unravelling of sorts almost all the time. This song is my inner struggle with overcoming that.

Ace Enders

Along with ‘The Fool’, ‘What We Earn’, and ‘About Me’ – I think we’ve reached the point where we can say the album will be amazing. Okay, I’m ready. Is it still six days to go? This is going to feel like a long wait.

The Empress Video

Watch The Early November – ‘The Empress’.

The Empress Lyrics

It’s the length of days
With the lack of faith
Collapsing on my side
I pray there’s another way
It’s not a big mistake
If I could hold my breath long enough
Just to hear you say

That I’ve been dreaming of this
We’ve got you all lined up to go
But we will crown ourselves
Give the pageant a twist
And not be warned that no one will show

Now we all want the same thing
Without the difficult and blaming
You see that looks can be deceiving
And what you don’t see is that everybody’s bleeding
And cheating
Hoping that nobody else can see
We all want the same thing

We all want the same piece
We want to make believe
And without a doubt we want you to pay the fee
It’s not what you think
They want to hold your soul and hand and let you say

Written by Fenton on 8th June 2024

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.

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