English rock band Bring Me the Horizon returns with “Medicine,” the third advanced single from their 2019, highly-anticipated album, ‘amo.’

“I can’t save you from yourself / When all you give a shit about is everybody else.” Hmm.  English rock band Bring Me the Horizon returns with an “emotional” new album, amo (January 25, 2019). In August 2018, Oli Sykes and company released the promo single, “MANTRA”, dropping the follow-up single, “Wonderful Life” in late October.  The healing power of “Medicine” arrived at the beginning of 2019 as the third single from the set. Okay, it’s not really healing from Sykes’ perspective – he wants her to experience “A taste of your own medicine.”

Sykes isn’t happy throughout the course of “Medicine” – understatement.  On the first verse, he makes it clear, “You rained on my heart for far too long / Couldn’t see the thunder for the storm.” Does that really make sense – do you see thunder? On the briefer second verse, familiar lines recur from the first with slight variation:

“Some people are a lot like clouds, you know
(Clouds, you know, clouds, you know)
‘Cause life’s so much bright when they go
And I spent too long in a place I don’t belong
I couldn’t see the thunder for the storm.”

Sykes remains irritable on the pre-chorus, bringing the aforementioned “A taste of your own medicine” into the memorable chorus.  The premise is that he wants her to experience the pain that she’s inflicted on him – he wants retribution.  Later, the bridge is derived from the second half of the first verse – “‘Cause I cut my teeth and bit my tongue / Till my mouth was dripping blood…” Interestingly, the beginning of each verse returns as the outro.

Final Thoughts 

Arguably, the songwriting and theme stand out the most in regard to “Medicine.”  That said, Sykes sings well, particularly when he achieves grit on the pre-chorus and chorus sections.  There is more of a pop sensibility (with some electronic cues) about this record, though the chorus section goes harder than the majority. Still, compared against the likes of “Shadow Moses” (Sempiternal, 2013) for example, and it’s much lighter. Still enjoyable.

Bring Me the Horizon • amo • RCA • Release: 1.25.19

Photo Credit: RCA