Sprints have been on heavy rotation for two solid years since theri debut album Letter To Self came out in January 2024. For most of 2025, they have been building up hype for their sophomore album All That Is Over which is out today for City Slang | Sub Pop.
I must confess, I loved Letter To Self so deeply that, when the All That Is Over was announced, I feared they rushed their second release. Fear is a valid feeling when you love an album so dearly and you know it will be replaced: new songs, new sounds, new ideas. New sounds and a different songwriting were to be expected as Colm O’Reilly (guitars on Letter To Self ) left the band in mid 2024 and was replaced by Zac Stephenson.
The frontwoman Karla Chubb explains why they’ve been so prolific:
There was just so much happening and so much to process. I was going through a big breakup with my partner, who I’d been with for eight years; Colm had left the band; we’d really progressed into being professional musicians, and I was at the start of a new relationship. But then you’d look outside, and the world has never been uglier. I was writing every day because there was so much going on.
For a band called Sprints, All That Is Over is an album that proves they are masters of pace and dynamics. The opening track “Abandon” sets the soundscape of the album. “Abandon” sees Chubb’s solemn vocals overlaid on paced drums and airy bass-lines — the influence from Portishead is uncanny. The snare echoes through the air as the bass plays an atmospheric series of long notes. In a somber tone Chubb sings, “Abandon all hope, hang the rope, don’t you recognise my face no more?” and “I don’t grow old, I grow unrecognisable, I used to live here.” The theme of defining oneself, and recognising their self is critical throughout the album, and seems to be a common trope for this generation [see Big Thief’s lead single — unrecognisable].
The third track on the album is “Descartes” — a furious song that drives the tempo of the album up in proper Sprints fashion. Stephenson’s manic riff and his signature dry tone make ‘Descartes’ an instant banger. In “Descartes,” the theme of self-identity comes back ever stronger. The French philosopher’s famous “I think therefore I am” is turned into “I speak therefore I understand” which goes hand-in-hand with the first verse of the song “Vanity is the curse of culture.”
Sprints reiterate and sum up the two main forces that drove them to write this album:
Ignorance becomes the death of us, Privilege without acknowledgement is murder. The world is burning right in front of us.
The album takes its title from the opening of the fifth track: “Beg” which is a sum of all the elements that characterise Sprints — new and old sonically and thematically. Jack Callan (drums) keeps a bouncy hi-hat driven groove throughout the whole song. It is a tongue in cheek satirical take on the idea that those who preach their moral codes and judgments, are often the ones committing the most heinous crimes themselves. It also reflects on self, sexuality, lust, ambition and personal shortcomings. “Rage,” the following track to “Beg,” is another take at the ugly world around us in which as Chubb says, “It’s easier to be angry than it is to help facilitate change.” The timely value of this song is striking as it addresses false prophets that cannot be allowed to use fear as a weapon to inflict rage on the marginalised communities: be it migrants, the queer or trans community.
“Something’s Gonna Happen” has been the opening track for most of their sets this summer and it works incredibly well at that. It’s a constant build up of tension throughout. The hardcore posse — like choirs give the song the right energetic outbreak for the tension build up. “Pieces” takes on from where “Something’s Gonna Happen” left; it has the heaviest riff on the album repeated ad libitum with the drums and the vocals varying the dynamics of the song. “Better” is the second-to-last single that was dropped prior to album release and it is perhaps Sprints’ slowest song ever, but it’s not necessarily less gritty than the previous ones. “Better” is certainly not a love song although it might appear as one. It’s a sad and tough song about relationships and people evolving through their own lives to the point of being liked ‘better’ at a different time to the point of not wishing each other well at all anymore.
As the album is moving towards the end and the tempo has slowed down, it is time for “Coming Clean,” a song that has some striking elements from their previous album Letter To Self in its verses. It’s a stark take on the relationship between the self and the others and combines harsh verses that resolve into very melodic choruses.
The final song “Desire” is — by their own admission — the best song they’ve written, and the best one they’ll ever write. It defines the “gothic cowboy” aesthetic of the album. It starts as an Americana-style ballad with a strummed nylon guitar and a moody bass line as Chubb soothingly sings about lust and passion which are compared to a freight train that hits you. The chorus is introduced by a pumping heart-like bass line before letting loose a guitar riff straight out of a spaghetti western. The song picks up pace after the second chorus and dives into a jarring solo that introduces the last climax of this album as the drums increase in intensity and Chubb sings,“The good, the bad, the best you’ve ever had” in escalating levels of intensity before dropping back to the nylon guitar of the intro and the subdued first stanza with the gothic cowboy figuratively leaving the scene.
All That Is Over proves, once again, that Sprints are capable of writing quality tunes with outstanding consistency considering their sophomore album is released just over a year after their debut. Sprints are about to embark on a EU/UK/US tour and their live performances are phenomenal; do not miss the chance of catching them on the road!