Cross My Heart Temporary Contemporary

The stunning sophomore album that perfected Cross My Heart's aggressive-yet-delicate approach to emotional devastation.Z``Z`

The Baltimore quartet offers up an aggressive yet delicate, diverse collection of songs that surrender each into the next with a certain sultriness that has you breathlessly following along. Led by the sweeping vocals of Ryan Shelkett, Cross My Heart guides you through a world of hopelessness and regret, sorrow and resolve. With a sound that is piercing, restless and powerful, Temporary Contemporary is a lesson in subtle seduction. Imperative listening and a stunning follow-up to their acclaimed self-titled EP. Where the 1999 EP introduced Cross My Heart's dynamic range, Temporary Contemporary expands and perfects it. The songs here are more ambitious, more confident, and somehow even more emotionally devastating. The band has mastered the art of building tension through quiet verses before unleashing torrents of guitar-driven catharsis, only to pull back again into vulnerable introspection. It's this constant push and pull that makes the album feel alive, urgent, and impossible to ignore. Ryan Shelkett's vocal performance reaches new heights throughout the album, conveying raw emotion that feels both universal and deeply personal. Whether he's barely whispering confessions or screaming through the pain, every word carries weight. The instrumental arrangements support and enhance these emotional journeys, with the rhythm section providing both the foundation for explosive moments and the space for delicate ones. This limited edition vinyl reissue (300 copies) celebrates an album that stands as a high-water mark in the emotional hardcore genre. Temporary Contemporary proved that aggressive music could be sophisticated, that loud could coexist with quiet, and that vulnerability was the ultimate form of strength. These are songs that put knots in your stomach, stars around your head, and tears in your eyes. For fans who lived through the late-90s/early-2000s emo and post-hardcore scenes, and for new listeners discovering what made that era so vital and enduring.