There’s no glamour in self-destruction on Luke O’Hanlon’s single, Alcohol and Sodium. The first cut from his forthcoming album, The River Only Flows One Way, carries the weight of every regret that lingers long after the bottle’s empty and the neon lights have lost their warmth. O’Hanlon’s lyricism, steeped in stark poetry and weary wisdom, doesn’t romanticise the rough edges—it lays them bare, exposing the loneliness in bad decisions and the inevitability of time slipping through cracked fingers.
Sonically, O’Hanlon leans into the mesmerising guitar work of Kurt Vile while pulling from Modest Mouse’s raw alt-country grit. When the composition fractures into garage rock territory, Strokes-esque vocals carve their way through the stripped-back instrumentation, ensuring every line lands like an unfiltered confession rather than a performance.
There’s a whisper of Tom Waits’ barstool storytelling and Richard Thompson’s cutting clarity in the delivery, but O’Hanlon’s voice is entirely authentic—ragged yet resolute, with a cynicism that never topples into defeat.
Rather than framing hedonism as rebellion or a necessary rite of passage, Alcohol and Sodium offers a different perspective—one that doesn’t ask for sympathy or redemption, just recognition. If this is just the first glimpse into The River Only Flows One Way, the full release in April 2025 is set to be an unflinching, razor-sharp reflection on survival itself.
Alcohol and Sodium is now available to stream on SoundCloud.
Review by Amelia Vandergast