Man of a million minds Johnnie Guilbert is at it again with his latest single, “All My Friends Are Dead.” Guilbert’s latest single was released in August, but it’s never too late to review good EMO music. “All My Friends Are Dead” brings the classic EMO nostalgia-fueled sound back for a few rounds in 2021 while also cementing Guilbert’s place in the genre’s revival as of late, which is always a nice thing to see for a genre I had enjoyed since my own EMO days back in 2007.
But is Guilbert’s latest single a little too much of the same old thing to be considered worth anyone’s time listening? Or, is “All My Friends Are Dead” the type of genre-twisting, lyrical mastery of personal proportions the world needs right now? Let’s find out.
The Review
“In an hour or two, you’ll be back on the move/Always chasing who you want,” a string of lyrics that takes listeners right into the mindset of Johnnie Guilbert, followed by “Always cutting just for fun,” which intensifies the track’s down in the dirt, raw dog attitude towards ones own emotions.
Lyrically, “All My Friends Are Dead” is your typical EMO stylized affair; personal experiences, heart on your sleeve reflections of the past, and a straight-up “fuck the world” mentality. All of which work marvelously from Guilbert’s point of view. Lyrically, my favorite string from Guilbert’s latest single has to be, “I can’t say I’m no disappointed/I can’t say I’m never the greatest.”
“All My Friends Are Dead” is hands down my favorite EMO track of the year, and I can only see that growing as Guilbert slowly starts to unveil his album plans for the future. Instrumentally, the track is fast-paced, in your face, and just overall a ball of fun to sing aloud to while bouncing around the room.
Johnnie Guilbert is bringing the core values of a wilting genre that’s sole purpose as of late is nostalgia trips down the Hawthorne Heights rabbit hole back from the dead in an explosive manner that should have many genre fans beyond excited.
ZK Studios did an outstanding job producing this piece of sound that brings the highs and lows of Guilbert’s mindset center stage, with a sun-drenched spotlight shining through Guilbert’s flowing locks as he begins to walk the path of a further growing music career. Listeners will quickly be captivated by Guilbert’s emotional vocal melodies as they dance between riff after riff, coming to a new high as they expressively sing-along, “All my friends are dead/So we can stop pretending.” I know I’ll be singing this one constantly for at most a minimum of a month.
Wrapping Up
I might have only rediscovered Johnnie Guilbert through his latest single, “All My Friends Are Dead,” but I quickly found myself going down the musical rabbit hole that quickly found myself favoriting handfuls of his previous tracks. “All My Friends Are Dead” is just the latest in what should be a long line of impressive emotionally triggered tracks to come from the growing singer-songwriter as we quickly start to head into 2022. As for myself, I have more “All My Friends Are Dead” to listen to.
Johnnie Guilbert’s latest single, “All My Friends Are Dead,” can be streamed across your favorite streaming services, and if you enjoy the track, Guilbert recently also released a music video that you should give a watch. Also, if you’d like to keep tabs on all things Johnnie Guilbert, check out his official website where you can find merch, as well as his social links in which you can bombard the artist with all of your love for his latest release.
