Mental Health Day drops new album ‘Altruistic’

Mental Health Day are a Detroit-based indie rock outfit that’s spent the better part of a decade threading deep emotional self-inquiry through layered guitars, intimate lyrics and a sound that feels just as comfortable in stillness as it does in movement. First arriving with their debut album You Could Be Anywhere back in 2016, the band introduced themselves as longtime friends-turned-collaborators framing seismic life shifts such as divorce, career upheaval and the slow rebuild that follows.

They offered something thoughtful and truly relatable; songs that traced the contours of adult life with delicate writing and tenderness. That ethos matured further on their 2019 follow-up Iterations, a sophomore record that tackled second chances and the perseverance of starting over. It was a body of work built around cycles, of personal growth, mental health, relationships and a subtle defiance against the idea that meaning can only be found in firsts.

Now, Mental Health Day return with the latest release titled Altruistic, their third full-length album and perhaps their most reflected and conflicted to date. It lands on the other side of a world that’s shifted dramatically through pandemics, political disillusionment, more personal change, marriages gained and lost again. While the band’s sense of self-awareness remains intact, the optimism that was distilled in their earlier work is now noticeably diluted.

Across the ten tracks, the band picks at the tension between being raised to avoid conflict and the internal rage that festers as a result. They explore performative kindness, hollow gestures and how people cling to moral high ground without ever engaging in real action. There are family tensions, both inherited and created, as well as moments of bitter honesty about the mental gymnastics required to maintain relationships that feel more obligatory than fulfilling.

Set up by “Get Along to Go Along,” the intricate flutter of acoustic guitar notes twang and slide to form an airy intro which is greeted by the steady patter of drums and flicker of clean electric guitar textures. Flowing with graceful vocal layers, the softly stretched melodies stitch poignant lyricism into the laid back indie rock fabric to form a mellow jam that’s equally engaging and meaningful.

“Good Things” follows with a hurried rhythm bounce of lively guitars and tapped drums as the expressive vocals glide in to float above the uptempo indie arrangement. Cut with catchy vocal hooks and bright aesthetic, it’s a superb display of the band’s memorable songwriting and stellar performance panache. “Drawn in Dust” casts a hazy atmosphere of shuffling percussion and gentle guitar tones which hang in a reverb-drenched scene as the filtered vocals float through. Building with lightly gritty guitars and piano flourishes, the track showcases the band’s knack for crafting a timeless sound filtered through their modern musical lens.

Other highlights on the album come with songs like “Mixology,” with its spacey sound of sustained synth notes which give way to delicate acoustic guitar and heartfelt vocals, offering a stripped back indie folk outing. Gently developing with the punch of drums, pulse of bass and soft touches of lead guitar, it captures the band’s engrossing writing in an intimate setting.

“Thoughts and Prayers” takes aim at the futile consolations that come in times of tragedy, offering a profound dissection of social apathy wrapped up in a dusty indie rock soundscape that rolls with steady rhythm, the jangle of lead guitar and compelling vocal performance. Closing the record with “Look Away,” the band serves up an epic finale of shimmering pop-tinged indie rock that delivers a stunning dose of their blend of candid lyricism and melodic complexity to perfectly finish their magnificent third album.

Listen to Altruistic below