The latest Hinds album, I Don’t Run shows the Spanish group really grow into their own, perfecting their signature sound and crafting some truly dope tracks.
With a reputation for putting on great live performances, the Madrid-based outfit has captured the raw energy and encapsulated that magic across these eleven tracks they’ve just released. Catchy melodies, anthemic choruses, brilliant riffs, and fuzzy vocals are the main elements that make up the formula behind this project, and they executed it to near perfection. Hinds produced the album along with Gordon Raphael, an icon in his own right for his production on the first two albums from The Strokes, a pairing that really took out the best of both parties.
This album’s solid from beginning to end, and after playing the record all the way through countless of times, below you’ll find our fair assessment of the top 5 tracks I Don’t Run has to offer. Check them out below.
“The Club”
The album opener is the type of song you’ll want to play for someone when you want to get them into Hinds. The driving rhythm section, with that imposing bass line, gives this track a lot of punch and the early Arctic Monkeys-style lead guitar adds some flair. This is the track you’ll want to dance along to in the pit and jump around as you scream the lyrics about the trickiness of casual relations. The dynamic duo of Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote are in full force here, trading verses and guitar licks seamlessly, and this tune sets the tone for how the pair tackle the rest of I Don’t Run.
“Soberland”
Track no. 2 has a good, laid-back buildup in the verses that rewards you with a loud chorus you’ll be compelled to scream-sing. The lyrics speak about that sobering moment when you’re done with the bs and you just have to call someone out for having their head too far up their ass. These ladies have made your anthem for fighting self-aggrandizement.
This is a jam that also feels like it has some influence from their budding friendship with the boys from Twin Peaks, which I’m totally here for.
“Linda”
“Linda” is another fine example of the Stones-ian guitar licks that make this album so easy to enjoy and follow. The Blues undertones in the strumming are the device of choice to help you glide along with the lyrics about fading love finally coming to an end. Carlotta Cosials’ vocal performance is very raw and beautiful, helping you feel the pain in every word.
That surf lead guitar is also a delight to hear. Lowkey, this one’s my favorite song on the album.
“Tester”
This song really speaks to the emotions anybody would feel when you confront your lover for playing you, making you feel this is something and not that you were actually just the latest addition to their body count. Also, I feel this is their most complete and ambitious song on the album. There are pace changes, the four-piece incorporates a combo of elements including Punk and Doo Wop, and the punchy chorus is a gratifying manifestation of the angst portrayed throughout. This should (will) become a fixture in their live sets for years to come.
“Finally Floating”
I really dig the 90s vibes of this song. The bouncy production charges right at you, while Cosials and Perrote sing over one another about the restlessness of dreaming. It’s fun playing the song back and focusing on the path carved out by the other singer the next time around. Sonically its inescapable, which can speak to the dread they are trying to evoke. There’s a bit of lyrical dissonance too, a tactic I’m sucker for, cuz there’s nothing like a sad song that sounds like it’s meant to be something nice.
Honorable mention: “Ma Nuit”
The most Spanish track on the album, the closing number puts on display their homeland’s sounds with a bolero vibe. The song is about the travails of always being out on tour and the perpetual state of missing their loves. Sung mostly in Spanish (with verses in English and French), it is really cool hearing the band just get down and personal without polished production or elaborate lyrics.
