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First Listen – “Ray Hawthorne Isn’t Real” – Ray Hawthorne
Ray Hawthorne’s sophomore record arrives in unconventional fashion — rather than dropping all at once, the tracks have been rolling out slowly over the last few months, building curiosity and momentum among fans. Now that the full album is finally here, one thing is immediately clear: Ray Hawthorne Isn’t Real was worth the wait.
Sound & Production
This project leans hard into early-2000s pop-punk energy — crunchy guitars, big choruses, and the kind of relentless tempo that could easily slot into a Warped Tour main stage set. What sets it apart, though, is the unfiltered delivery and heavy dose of profanity that gives everything a raw, modern edge.
There’s an aggressively nostalgic quality to the production (think blown-out guitars, double-tracked vocal hooks, and gang vocals sprinkled for maximum catharsis), but it never feels dated. A few experimental choices — glitchy transitions, layered reverb, even the occasional synth distortion — keep the sound grounded in 2025 rather than stuck in the past.
Themes, Emotion & Storytelling
Even though the lyrics often come in short bursts or fragmented statements, they still hit hard. The whole album feels like one messy, honest monologue about identity and disconnection, stitched together across different moments of frustration, self-reflection, and sarcastic humor.
Rather than trying to clean up those emotions, Hawthorne leans into the chaos — embracing the idea that “Ray Hawthorne” might be a constructed persona to begin with. The result is an album that feels both cathartic and mysterious, like flipping through someone else’s journal and realizing half the pages are missing.
What It Means for Ray Hawthorne
Sophomore albums are usually about proving something — and this one absolutely does. By drip-releasing tracks over time, Hawthorne let each song speak for itself before tying everything together in one cohesive story. Now, with the full project out, the vision feels even bigger and more deliberate.
Ray Hawthorne Isn’t Real doesn’t just pay homage to pop-punk nostalgia — it reinvents it with modern storytelling and brutally honest delivery. If Ray keeps pushing in this direction, it’s not hard to imagine future albums sitting at the intersection of cult-favorite and genre-defining.
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