Review: Orange Animal’s single ‘Sweet Heartache’

Single Review

May 24, 2025 Hattan Savage Music Review, USA
Orange Animal

By Hattan Savage, Rock At Night Nashville

Review: Orange Animal’s single “Sweet Heartache” – Release date May 9, 2025

Orange Animal has been making a name for themselves in Ohio’s rock scene since their founding in 2017. Their most recent single, “Sweet Heartache,” released May 9th, delivers in four minutes what some bands spend four albums chasing — a seamless mix of swagger, originality, and undeniable talent.

This track beings with a catchy, moody instrumental riff that hooks the listener immediately. The vocals then glide in, not detracting from the guitar in the slightest, instead complimenting it perfectly. Lyrically, “Sweet Heartache” uses strategic repetition to evoke emotion and emphasize a message. The instrumental breaks speak loudly and give space for the listener to think about the lyrical message.

As the title suggests, this is a heartbreak song. During my first listen, however, what I heard and what I felt didn’t quite align with each other. The lyrics discussed a loss, but in my own heart, I felt a sense of yearning. That contrast is part of what makes this song so resonant. Lead vocalist and guitarist John Ramsey reflects on the song’s meaning: “it’s a slinky, mantra-like alt rock song about the quiet tension between holding on to heartache and letting love run free.” What Ramsey describes is a sentiment of which many of us are all too familiar, and Orange Animal captures it with exceptional precision.

The track ends on a high note with a Jack White-esq guitar solo, which is one of the first parts Ramsey wrote for the song. “This song was unique in that I wrote the bass line first followed by the guitar solo,” he says. “The rest flowed from there.”

Selfishly, I hope Orange Animal has a whole album of songs like this in the works. I’ll be first in line at the venue when they come through Nashville.

SOUNDCLOUD

Check out Rock At Night’s interview with Orange Animal – 2024

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