B-Side Guys

Livingmore strips their statement down to single syllable: hurting. The Los Angeles duo of Alex and Spencer repeat this word throughout their second single from their upcoming self-titled album, acknowledging that sometimes elaborate explanation fails and you’re left with the most basic descriptor available. Their admission that they don’t know how else to say it frames the entire track—this isn’t artistic choice to use simple language but recognition that pain exceeds available vocabulary.

The song examines isolation as amplifier for suffering. Spencer and Alex describe being left alone with hurt, the repeated “by myself” and “when I’m alone” refrains emphasizing how solitude intensifies rather than soothes. Their observation that it’s hard to be on their own side cuts deeper than standard self-criticism—it acknowledges the exhausting internal conflict of simultaneously experiencing pain and judging yourself for experiencing it. Livingmore, whose viral parking garage performance of “Little Bird” sparked their online presence and whose debut “OK To Land” gained widespread acclaim in indie circles, understands how to balance vulnerability with craft.

Their blend of modern indie rock sensibilities and vintage pop charm serves the material without overshadowing it. The track doesn’t build toward cathartic resolution or offer therapeutic breakthrough. Some days are better, some are no good—that’s the extent of optimism offered. Their attempt to understand what can’t be understood acknowledges limits of rational processing when dealing with emotional states that resist logic. The plea for something to kill the pain or help forget demonstrates desperation for relief through any available means.

Currently collaborating with Jeff Schroeder from Smashing Pumpkins on new material, following their 2021 album “Take Me” produced by Mike Schadel and mixed by Josiah Mazzaschi, Livingmore continues refining their sound across multiple releases. “Hurting” represents their Americana and folk rock influences distilled to essential elements—the repeated title becomes mantra, plea, and simple statement of fact. The final request not to be left in pain arrives without guarantee of rescue, just honest acknowledgment that suffering alone amplifies unbearably.