Gone are the days where Brummie lads Jaws were releasing songs about donuts and epitomising what NME described as the sound of a ‘sunbathing cat’. ‘Cast’ is a song that bathes in its own maturity: it is  bold, daring and unashamedly raw.

With an opening guitar line that is laced in a sense of underlying vulnerability and repetitive darkness, lead-singer Connor Schofield reminds us in the song’s chorus ‘you’ll be alright, it takes time’. ‘Nobody’s on their own’, he tells us. Here we see a band that is not afraid to tackle issue of isolation and mental health head on, and the song’s opening darkness is balanced with this sense of joyous celebration of seeing a light emerging at the end of the tunnel. We get an insight into both the darkness and the light.

The song is an energetic crescendo of rollicking drums and guitars, and Schofield doesn’t shy away from matching the intensity of this build up. We are given a roar of sound, and a scream of emotion.

‘Cast’ provide us with what their 2016 album Simplicity executes so well: a sense of emotional realness that doesn’t shy away from intensity. Yet, despite the song’s vulnerable undertones, Jaws remind us: it’s ok. And, if we really do feel like we’ve got no one there to hold our hands, that they’re always going to be there for us, waiting.

Juliette Rowsell

Image: Mogran Tedd