Expire - 'Pretty Low' (Album Premiere With Commentary!)

It's business as usual for Expire—the Midwestern hardcore hustlers will release their sophomore album on June 17 before running another lap around the full US, then head to Europe to do it all again. 

The band provided us with some track-by-track commentary for their latest full-length, Pretty Low, which is exclusively streaming on AP! All pre-order options are available in the Bridge Nine Store.

1. “Pretty Low” – Imagine being at the lowest point of your life, the lowest you've ever felt. There's nowhere to go but up from there.

2. “Just Don't” – Although very blunt, this song is about the blurred lines between love and lust, and how people get trapped in these toxic relationships based solely on sexual attraction. Inspired by the song “Lies For Lust” by Another Mistake. Their vocalist Tyler Short appears at the end our song.

3. “Fiction” – Society instilled these ideas in us as to what beauty is, and what our perfect mate is supposed to be, this song is about trying to break out of that cycle and that way of thinking.

4. “Gravity” – Gravity is about my personal struggle with thoughts of suicide; a common theme in a lot of Expire songs.

5. “Nobody” – The idea that an individual or a band can get a name for themselves simply because of who they know rather than because they put in hard work and earn what they have –  has and will always be something that disgusts me.

6. “Old Habits” – Everyone has that person that's so incredibly hard to break away from. This song is about the difficulty of just letting go. There's a little nod to Bent Life's “Full Skull” added to this song so we asked their vocalist Moose to do a guest spot on it.

7. “Forgetting” – We all have our vices that help us cope with our problems. Sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever. Forgetting is about whatever helps you, well… forget.

8. “Callous” – This song is about the things we are made to believe are important from the moment we are born, and how our entire lives are dictated by money.

9. “Rejection” – Someone you were bonded to by blood, who was never supposed to abandon you, turns their back when things get tough. This song is about when they realize their mistakes but it's too late and now the rejector becomes the rejected.

10. “If It Were Up To Me” – Someone very close to me was the victim of sexual abuse. This song is about the anger I've harbored for the one responsible, and the guilt of not being able to prevent such a thing from happening.

11. “Second Face” – It's about finally seeing someones true colors and realizing that you saw it coming all along. Our friend Jacob Justice closes out this song and the record.