The Used have been rocking faces for nearly 20 years. And now as they release their 8th studio album, “Heartwork” the statement holds true. The Used has always been unapologetically honest with their lyrics and music, opening doors for so many bands to get “mainstream” exposure through radio and even MTV, when they still mostly played music. Regarded as one of the hardest working bands in the music industry, never really taking any major breaks from making music and touring, they have built one of the strongest fan bases in the industry, and it continues to grow.

Longtime fans of the band will hear nods to their previous albums sound, as the band has teamed up with John Feldman who was a part of the bands most successful album to date. But this album is no copy and paste of old work, there are many new elements and fusions with other genre elements. The album also features some guest spots from a few pretty noteworthy people such as, Travis Barker, Mark Hoppus, Caleb Shomo, and Jason Aalon Butler.

The album kicks off with “Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton” featuring punchy drums and heavy guitars, this song is high energy and a great opener to the album. John Milton is one of frontman Bert McCraken’s favorite authors. You can check out the video here, showcasing the emotion and imagery you’ve come to expect from The Used.

You can check out the premiere of “BIG, WANNA BE” over at Spin by clicking here.

One of the sleepers on this album is “Wow, I Hate This Song”. This song is the raw emotion that fans love about Bert, and The Used. Melodic lyrics accented by moments of primal screams deliver a sense of emotion that the listener can feel. This song will be one that many people relate to as it serves as a reminder of a memory of a past relationship, or trauma that resurfaces when you hear “that song”.

The premiere of “Cathedral Bell” can be found over here at NYLON. This is one of our favorite tracks on the album, a song about feeling trapped, stuck with your own thoughts. It could not be any more fitting than right now, with most people being confined to their homes.

“Clean Cuts Heal” is a somewhat pop filled dance song, but with the delivery of Bert’s lyrics this song is going to be one that fans latch onto for just a song to get moving.

The title track “Heartwork” is more of a spoken word track. This will remind fans of the opening to “I’m A Fake” from “In Love And Death”. Bert showcases his ability to write words that even with minimal music accompanying them make an impact and can hook the emotions.

Mark Hoppus joins Bert vocally on “The Lighthouse”, which is another slightly more pop, upbeat song than some previous tracks. But the message of being a lighthouse for someone is something that, especially in the current state of mental health, is a very positive notion. You can see the premiere of this track here, on Grammy.com.

“Darkness Bleeds, FOTF” is one of the tracks that fans will hear and get vibes of prior Used tracks. The composition of the track is what many fans of come to expect from the band, and lyrically Bert does what he does best, hook you on every word. The track also moves seamlessly from an edgy in your face heavy track, to wrap up with a light, soft delivery of clean vocals.

And finally to wrap up the album is a track called “To Feel Something”. Lyrically this song is about a longing for emotion from someone else. The desire to have someone make you feel alive, to break through the numbness.

Overall this album is one of the strongest showings from the band, and thats saying a lot as they’ve been producing great albums for nearly 20 years. There are tracks for every fan of The Used on this album whether you’ve been around since the self-titled “The Used” album, or maybe the previous release “The Canyon” was your first exposure to the band. You can grab your copy of the album anywhere you buy music digitally, or head over to The Used Shop to pick up merch directly, and check out the super rad tarot card style designs.