Boy Harsher – Get Mean

Boy Harsher's Get Mean is the duo's first proper studio album in seven years, and it arrives as an unusually direct record about love, loss, and survival. Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller built their reputation on a stark blend of darkwave, synth-pop, and industrial electronics, first developing a cult following after forming in Savannah, Georgia in 2013. Here, that familiar tension is still intact, but the emotional centre is sharper: the songs face grief and heartbreak head-on while holding onto the possibility of renewal.

The album also marks Boy Harsher's Atlantic debut and their third official studio LP, pushing their sound into a broader, more cinematic frame without abandoning the moody pull that made earlier records connect. Source material describes Get Mean as a redemption album, and that feels apt: pulsing production, haunting melodies, and a more open sense of space give these songs a different weight from the duo's tightly wound earlier work. Tracks such as "Jeans" and "Hard Beat" point to that shift, balancing hooks with the shadowy atmosphere Boy Harsher do so well.

What makes Get Mean especially compelling is how clearly it sits inside the band's story. It follows a long gap between studio albums, keeps faith with the dark, alluring aesthetic that shaped favourites like "Pain," and presents Matthews and Muller in a more exposed mode than before. For listeners coming to Boy Harsher through their darker club material, this is a strong next step: immersive, hypnotic, and grounded in real upheaval rather than just style.

Reviews

• Boy Harsher get lean and focused on their best album yet - The Line of Best Fit