Premiere: SUSTO - 'Hyperbolic Jesus'

There are love songs, and then there are LOVE songs! The kind of songs that get to the raw, messy bones of what it actually feels like to be in a relationship with someone. Warts-and-all portraits like Guy Clark’s ‘Fools For Each Other’ or John Prine and Iris Dement’s ‘In Spite Of Ourselves’ that capture all the ups and downs and in-betweens of being in love.

The new single from SUSTO, ‘Hyperbolic Jesus’ is that kind of love song. A love song that sounds exactly like how it feels. It’s a song that understands how throwing something extraordinary into the mix of the everyday is what makes it so volatile, but also what fires the passion.

“It’s about falling in love when you don’t expect to,” explains the South Carolina band's singer Justin Osborne about the song. “It’s about finding a deep connection with someone, despite the chaos of life. The dynamic between narrator and subject in this song is playfully vulnerable. They bicker, but their connection keeps them stuck on each other. The song is meant to explore how love can be hard to navigate, but also how authentic attraction and connection is undeniable, and can’t be easily forgotten.”

“She says why you gotta be so morbid / Go and write me a happy song,” he sings. “Well, when I met her she was fallin’ to pieces / When she met me I was fallin’ apart too.”

‘Hyperbolic Jesus’ might not exactly be the “happy song” the protagonist was hoping for, but it’s a delightfully sunny slice of americana matched to a lyric that’s filled with tiny moments of pure poetry.

“She says she don’t believe in Jesus / But she thinks he was a pretty good guy / Wears her hair down when she goes to work and pulls it back when she’s gettin’ high.”

'Hyperbolic Jesus' is premiering exclusively on Holler below.

It's the latest taste of their forthcoming album, My Entire Life, due out in July on New West. The 12-song set was produced by Band Of Horses’ producer Wolfgang Zimmerman at the helm and SUSTO’s Justin Osborne and Johnny Delaware and it follows their critically acclaimed 2021 album Time in the Sun.

A season of drastic change is what brought SUSTO frontman Justin Osborne to the band’s new album. There was a divorce, difficulties re-building his band after the pandemic, and the pain and helplessness of witnessing family members struggle with addiction and mental illness. Despite these challenges. Justin ultimately found himself in a new landscape, with new love and a deeper perspective, all of which is masterfully projected into My Entire Life. The album documents Justin’s personal journey through highs and lows in his life, with many of the details on full display. He narrates the demise and aftermath of an almost decade long relationship, while celebrating the joy of falling in love, and the hopefulness of starting over.

“SUSTO’s narrative has always been confessional, and songwriting is my way of trying to make sense of the chaos - good and bad - around me,” observes Osborne. “This record is my story of navigating a bunch of chaos, but finding ways to carry on and manifest my own happiness…the last few years were a challenge, but I look back and see that I made it through, a better, truer, and more realized version of myself.”

SUSTO have also announced their initial live performances in support of My Entire Life. Launching on July 29 in Austin, TX, the trek features stops at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles and an appearance at the Americana Music Festival in September.

SUSTO’S My Entire Life will be available on July 28th on New West. Click here to preorder.