REVIEW: frown line’s ‘Without You’ is a Sweet Ode to a Love-Filled Future
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY ALYSA BENSON ☆
Photo by Marika Robitaille
EVERYONE HAS GOTTEN LOST IN ROMANTIC DAYDREAMS—“Without You” by frown line captures the relatable act of looking forward to a future with someone, while still in the midst of falling for them. The new single is intimate without being overly delicate, offering a kind of tenderness that is genuine and easy to get wrapped up in.
Montreal four-piece frown line has steadily evolved from frontperson Annika Devlin’s close-knit bedroom recordings into a full band featuring Jacob Barton (guitar), Jack Moore (drums) and Juan Jimenez (bass). Growing from their 2023 debut EP Come Around, frown line continues to harness their art as they work toward their first full-length album, planned for a 2027 release. This next chapter arrives alongside frown line’s first-ever U.S. tour supporting Mini Trees, with their newest song “Without You” already on track to become a standout in their live performances.
Yes, “Without You” is a love song. But it feels real and approachable. It takes into consideration the other underlying emotions that come with finding yourself drawn to somebody, rather than only honing in on surface-level desire. There’s a romantic future within the track that is being reached for, and you find yourself reaching along for it. Devlin’s singing sentiment, “Because I can’t think of / Another life, another love / Without you,” is the heart of the song: the sweetness of yearning, of simply wanting a person to stay next to you and follow them through life’s stages, no matter the amount of distance or obstacles. It’s a breath of fresh, untainted air in our current music landscape.
The instrumentation and connection it evokes make the song feel like a live take, while still holding an undercurrent of maturity that polishes the track. The lingering dashes of the cymbal feel like thoughts firing off in your brain when you’re falling for someone: those uncontrollable thoughts about the future, the possibilities and everything that comes with letting yourself become attached. Barton’s warm, bouncy guitar overlaying both Jimenez’s grounding bass and Moore’s textured drums mirrors a collage of the longing feelings one gets swept up in when diving into love—the vulnerability, the hope, the devotion. Along with Devlin’s soft yet resonant vocals, they all drive the track’s lived-in honesty.
Every instrument and sonic layer carries the same theme, but still catches your attention in different ways. You can get lost in the atmosphere while hearing each individual musical moment. The build-ups that weave in and out of the song, when the drums pick up and the vocals climb bit by bit, feel like the actual build-up before telling someone how you feel—the swirl of hopeful anticipation and nerves right before confronting your own wants. Meanwhile, the squeaky slide of acoustic strings peek out throughout the track, adding a subtle organic layer that expands the musicality.
There’s a warm-hearted quality about “Without You” that encapsulates the quiet, unavoidable excitement of imagining what comes next with someone. frown line takes all of our crush-filled diaries and puts sensitive, engaging instrumentation behind those love-soaked, wishful confessions, crafting a song that all of us will need at least once in our lives.
