At-Risk Youth Invites Us to Recognize Our “Sweet Demon”

From Colorado Springs, Colorado, the alternative rock band At-Risk Youth explores human contradiction in their new hot single “Sweet Demon.”

At-Risk Youth consists of the lead vox and guitar of Mark F. Foreman, the drums of Ryan Hartline, and the bass of Ali Belone. They have been working on their music, leaving a powerful message in their lyrics and instrumentals, or just having fun. They manage to revive the best alternative rock with noticeable influences from Green Day and MGMT.

“Sweet Demon” talks about the inescapable contradiction between reason and temptation. We are supposed to seek the ideal world using reason, but we are tied to the search for immediate pleasure. It is easy to think that reason would separate us from subjectivity and show us the world as it is, but there might be things simply impossible to understand.

Listening to “Sweet Demon” starts right away with the lyrics, and the vocals are as melodic as the riff of the distorted guitar that accompanies it. Then the ring of a bell makes way for the entry of the instrumentals. The drums mark the compass for the staccato chords of the bass, guitar, and keys, while the screaming vocals and energizing instrumental make the chorus a burst of excitement.

The inclusion of sweet second female vocals makes a great contrast with the overall ambiance, and the guitar solo is so euphoric you need to take out your air guitar and rock along. “Sweet Demon” is a cathartic song to turn up the volume and sing along with it.

Open your mind and indulge your ears by listening to At-Risk Youth’s “Sweet Demon.”

Welcome to BuzzMusic At-Risk Youth, and congratulations on your latest release, "Sweet Demons." What was the inspiration for "Sweet Demon?"

Several things, really, but the main inspiration was the pull between temptation and rationality. Rationality is frequently considered a virtue but unobtainable for various reasons. On the other hand, the temptation is the driving force of all vice but is very easily obtainable. Consequently, for all that we might want to live in the land of reason, we are hamstrung by temptation simply by virtue of being human. Plus, I thought many of the lyrics sounded cool when I wrote them. What would you like people to think when listening to "Sweet Demon?"

I don't feel it's my business to tell people what to think. I just hope they like the song. What makes "Sweet Demon" different from your other songs?

I'd say that the lyrics are more driven by imagery than anything. They attempt to showcase snapshots of moments that may or may not be fictional and don't tell a story. But then, that's true of life as well since life doesn't have a narrative structure. It's just a series of things that happen.

What's next for you?

We're currently working on recording a full-length album; that's about halfway recorded, and mixed and more progress gets made every day. We also have plans to record four mini rock operas, each as its own EP, and all of them connected thematically; most of the writing on those is done, and we hope to start recording them sometime this winter, assuming we're close to finishing our next album. We're also thinking about putting out a standalone EP at some point in the future, like our previous releases Life Through Screens and On A Wire, but that's much more theoretical.

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