Finding beauty in their frailties, “Our Mother’s Sons” is SPQR’s most crushing song to date

Detailing the crippling self-doubt that vocalist Peter Harrison sees in people he loves, “Our Mother’s Sons” is SPQR’s most crushing track to date in every respect. With the backing of a dirty, chugging opening riff, Harrison has proven himself perfectly adept at writing lyrics as emotionally distraught as the accompanying music, both on their debut EP The House That Doubt Built and subsequent singles including "Slowly". Never before has the weight of his woes seemed to tear at him the way that it does on the new track.

It’s in Harrison’s repeated questioning that his deep-rooted anxieties are most exposed. Questions like “what if sometimes there are wounds that can’t be stitched?” and “what if what I’m told is a lie to help keep me sane?” epitomise the insecurities that riddle his thoughts.

As with the finest moments on their previous work, SPQR turns Harrison’s laments and angst into something quite stunning. As the song closes to Harrison’s heartbreaking repeated admission of “I’m half here, half somewhere else”, his cries glistening among the enveloping guitars and drums, the vulnerability he perpetuates by putting himself on the pedestal is touching. Although bittersweet, it’s one of the most gorgeous moments the band have so far put on record, and indicative of an act who are seemingly learning more, with each release, how to turn their frailties into essential works of art.

Commenting on the track, Harrison says: “It’s a heavier one, and then a really gentle one too. I think it captures those opposing mental states well: the burst of anger and frustration that needs to come out, and then the quiet contemplation of why.

“The main theme of this song comes from thinking of the people that I know who are all very special and talented, but who have to wade through all this horrible shit that makes them struggle and doubt themselves. You know when you see the lovely things in people but they never will? That. Seems like a theme among the people I love.”