Spanish Love Songs Are Here to Help You Survive the ‘Bleak Stuff’ With New Album: Emerging Artists Spotlight

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February 20, 2020

Spanish Love Songs Are Here to Help You Survive the ‘Bleak Stuff’ With New Album: Emerging Artists Spotlight

Welcome to Emerging Artists Spotlight, the Billboard series where we highlight a musician or band who has recently made their debut on the Emerging Artists chart. Whether they are new to the industry, or have been around for a while but are just starting to have a chart impact, the intention is to showcase where they are here and now. This week’s pick is pop punk outfit Spanish Love Songs, who debuted at No. 27 on the chart dated Feb. 22 thanks to the release of their third full-length studio set Brave Faces Everyone.

Los Angeles-based punk band Spanish Love Songs use their music as a form of catharsis. The band's third album, Brave Faces Everyone, marks their first release on on Berkeley, Calif. indie label Pure Noise Records and finds the quintet reaching out for connection in an increasingly hostile world across 10 brash, bright tracks.

“We’re really just trying to make music that lets people know they’re not alone," frontman Dylan Slocum tells Billboard. "It feels like everyone I know, myself included, is isolated and anxious or depressed by the same issues: jobs we hate that don’t pay enough, lack of access to health and mental care, rents that won’t stop going up, and the sneaking suspicion that it doesn’t matter since the world’s on its way out. It’s bleak stuff, but I find some comfort in knowing that we’re all in it together.

"That’s where the idea of Brave Faces Everyone lies: what else are we going to do besides smile and try to do better? I certainly don’t just want to just throw my hands up and say, 'I quit.'”

The band makes its chart debut this week at No. 27 on the Emerging Artists chart following last week's release of Brave Faces Everyone, which also opens at No. 61 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart with 2000 copies sold, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The LP also debuts just outside the top 20 on the Vinyl Albums chart, at No. 21.

Learn more about Spanish Love Songs below.

Members: Dylan Slocum (vocals), Trevor Dietrich (bass), Ruben Duarte (drums), Meredith Van Woert (keyboards), Kyle McAulay (guitar)

Recommended Spanish Love Songs track: "Losers 2"

"This sums up what we do best, lyrically and musically," Slocum tells Billboard. "It took me forever to crack the lyrics outside of the chorus, but the 2nd verse is maybe my favorite part of the album.

Outside of the music: "Finding ways to support progressive candidates and platforms in the election, starting with Bernie Sanders in the upcoming primary," Slocum says. "I would love to never have to sing about not being able to afford a therapist again."

What's next: "Endless touring, starting with The Wonder Years this month and some soon-to-be-announced headline runs," Slocum shares. "We’ve all just lost our jobs due to our schedules, so we’re pretty much ready to live on the road and share this with as many people as we can until someone makes us stop. After that, maybe I can find a permanent place to live."