Dear Forbidden is full of angst and anxiety on new EP Before the Night Expires

“I never thought we’d take it this far,” sings Dear Forbidden‘s Gina LC. “I don’t know how to toe the line.”

That lyric comes at the midway point of “Invisible Corset,” the burning opener of the band’s new Before the Night Expires EP, and it packs a punch, alluding to society’s rules and expectations, an inability to adhere to them, and a bit of surprise and possible pride at that subversion. As we enter the ninth month of 2020, with about half the year spent learning how to navigate a global pandemic, it’s safe to say that we’re all learning new things about ourselves, an experience that can absolutely include throwing previously-held rules to the side.

Dear Forbidden has been active in the Philly music community since making their debut in March of 2016 with the Glitter and Dissonance EP. Slow Beat came the following year, and the new Before the Night Expires brings together two of the singles the band has released in the interim — the angst-fueled “Pledge” from November of 2018, and the emotive dramatic swell of “Smile Dropper” from this winter — with two new songs recorded made at Collingswood, NJ’s Gradwell House studio with Matt Webber.

The set closes on the burning minor chord dirge “Plank,” which touches on themes of anxiety, abuse, and searching for a path to overcome that finds bassist Ryan Young and drummer Steph Brettman locked in and joining Gina with resplendent vocal harmonies that are affecting, but ambiguous. Is the titular plank empowering, like in yoga? Is it full of doom and despair, as in “walk the”? The drift of the closing chords don’t provide a clear answer, but Night nevertheless turns the page on a thrilling new chapter for Dear Forbidden.