Wisher is one of a handful of 2025 albums that leave you to relish in being an emo fan. There’s a nice little trifecta formed among Ben Quad’s newest, Arm’s Length’s There’s A Whole World Out There and Beauty School’s From Now On, all of which have raised, reinforced and bolted fast emo’s standard this year. And they really do complement each other, too. All three are melodic to a fault, occupying largely the same genre ecosystem with specialised niches filled by each. In the case of Ben Quad—arguably the ones who started 2025 with the least prior traction—they’re the most polished and clean-cut of the trio, while still balancing that out with a naturalistic emo core that’s among the best you’ll find.
To that, you can also pin on Wisher’s second key trait, in how Ben Quad’s atomised pieces of outside influence accumulate for a handy sprinkling of flavour. Joining forces are squeezy emo-pop synths and screams borrowing unashamedly from post-hardcore, and that makes for a Myspace-era cross-section that traffics less in carrot-and-stick nostalgia, and more in plain enjoyment. That’s not saying that Very Big In Sheboygan or All Your Luck aren’t very fetching in their Motion City Soundtrack-styled coat, but that’s not all they are.
If anyone, there’s more a streak of Hot Mulligan to Ben Quad, not to mention their pals in the scene who lend some assists on Wisher. West Of West has Microwave’s Nathan Hardy guesting, who clearly loans some added grit and tension that Ben Quad’s usual vibrancy plays into, rather than defuses. Elsewhere, the more fiddly elements of You Wanted Us, You Got Us are placed head-on, unlikely to be a coincidence when Sweet Pill’s Zayna Youssef features. Perhaps the most unwitting force for change, though, is Treaty Oak Revival’s Sam Canty, and not for the added banjo on Did You Decide To Skip Arts And Crafts? that’s dripped over into What Fer?. Rather, the former song opens with a voicemail from Canty expressing a wariness about Ben Quad’s heavier pivot on their Ephemera EP, and how they were better where they were. To quote Canty directly, “You know what your sound is; quit trying to fucking change it.”
Thus, a return to tight, compact melodies and painting them with a gleaming flourish allows Wisher to serve as the ideal recalibration. It’s never a backslide, either; that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is Ben Quad at their very best, down to a molecular level. Just at face value, songs like Painless and Very Big In Sheboygan sport hooks that are worth their weight in gold, while the additional wistfulness of Classic Case Of Guy On The Ground is a tempering flexibility that’s a great asset to have. The base emo sound is also a phenomenally appealing one, spit-shined through a poppier mix that (contrary to what many in a similar boat would have you believe) can avoid being locked in place. A song like It’s Just A Title is wonderful for its fluidity, especially that sharper guitar whose sugary accents aren’t calcified to the point of immovability.
Dig in a little further, and you’ll come across some great churning bass on Painless that preludes a final leg akin to rattling hardcore, or how deep yet deceptively alive the melancholy mixes are across What Fer? and Classic Case Of Guy On The Ground. For what amount to dabs of glue holding the emo-pop / math-rock / post-hardcore-ish blocks together, there’s still just as much to appreciate. And all of that keeps Wisher at an absolute gold standard of consistency. At its harshest, it never runs overboard or gets uncomfortable; the rush of full-throated screams on West Of West and the threatening of a few blastbeats amid the climax of I Hate Cursive And I Hate All Of You work unreservedly.
But most of all, Wisher just has The Feel that all the best emo does—easy to go down, but evocative and unforgettable in every flavour it packs. This is the good stuff, in a year where we’ve been spoiled for choice in this exact archetype. And yet, the beautiful thing is how none of these top players feel as though they’re stepping on the others’ toes. Arm’s Length and Ben Quad are touring the UK together next year, if that tells you anything, but even disregarding that, they’re all moving in a way to facilitate a notably healthy scene. Wisher, in coming from next-to-nowhere and standing proud with the best of ‘em, makes no secret of what it’s doing to impress.
For fans of: Hot Mulligan, Arm’s Length, saturdays at your place
‘Wisher’ by Ben Quad is out now on Pure Noise Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
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