By the time SUSTO began plotting its third album Ever Since I Lost My Mind, the Charleston, S.C., band had spent years writing, recording and touring for an increasingly devoted fan base as an independent act. A project started in 2013 by songwriter Justin Osborne, SUSTO has attracted fans of Americana, jam-adjacent rock ’n’ roll, and alt-country alike with its earnest songwriting, disregard for traditional genre boundaries and invigorating live shows.
For Ever Since, released in February, Osborne & Co. found their first label home in Rounder Records. It was a win for Osborne, who had already written much of the album before heading into the studio with Ian Fitchuk, the longtime Nashville musician widely known for his work as co-producer on Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning 2018 album Golden Hour. The first track released from Ever Since was album-opener “Homeboy,” a slice of grunge-tinged Americana-rock about a tightly knit hometown crowd scattering across the map. Osborne notes that he let the label decide which song to release first.
“This is our first time working with a label, and I wanted to see what they thought,” says Osborne. “I was so close to the songs, it was hard for me to choose. I was surprised they chose ‘Homeboy.’ … I think it is a good tone-setter for the record. And I love that song. That song is very personal to me, and it’s also really fun to play.”
Osborne cites Fitchuk as an essential element in realizing his vision for the album. Much of what drew fans to the group’s second album & I’m Fine Today — it was a catalyst for national media attention on its release in 2017 — is still present across Ever Since I Lost My Mind. There are highly melodic vocals, flourishes of twangy country and heavier rock woven into arrangements whose understated complexity sneaks up on you. Ever Since feels more expansive than its predecessor, which Osborne credits in part to Fitchuk’s knack for making musicians feel at ease.
“He made me feel really at peace throughout the whole process, which was something I was desperate for,” Osborne says. “When we were making our second album it was really stressful for me. … On this one, I had a batch of songs and I had a vision for what I wanted them to sound like, and I needed to get there.”
Inner peace is an underlying theme throughout Osborne’s work with SUSTO, which has deep connections to discussions of mental health. The project takes its name from a cultural illness experienced in Latin American countries, which researchers have found is caused by emotional trauma or witnessing others’ traumatic experiences.
Mental health and social issues of varying kinds inform Ever Since I Lost My Mind. Sometimes it’s explicit, as in the references to “feeling manic” in “Homeboy” or substance abuse in closing track “Off You.” In other places, like the title track and “If I Was,” the group dives into complicated, generalized feelings of disconnectedness and anxiety — while they aren’t clinical diagnoses, they’re critical issues.
“It’s not something I’m trying to do,” Osborne says. “It just comes out sometimes. But I do think, though, that it’s good that [artists] are being so frank about mental health. It’s something a lot of people are going through. We talk about mental health and anxiety and depression and just life, too. A lot of people want to air it out and talk about it because they don’t have access to therapy.”
Osborne’s willingness to speak freely about anxiety, depression and big existential questions has helped create a fierce loyalty that seems to transcend typical fan-artist relationships. It’s a two-way street: Osborne notes seeing a lot of the same faces at different stops along the road, and feels grateful to be part of what has become a close community around the band. He finds that the experience reminds him in some interesting ways of going to church.
“I don’t feel like I’m a pastor or anything like that,” he says with a laugh. “But it goes back to the mental health issue. People need therapy. We need therapy, and for me, growing up and going to church was kind of like a reset. You go on Sunday and hear a positive message, and it was good for your spirit. Maybe in some way, without realizing it, that’s how I approach the band and the shows and the fans. We’re all part of a church where you can drink and talk about weed.”
When he gets off the road later this spring, Osborne has another milestone to look forward to that’s likely to bear an influence on his work in the future: the birth of his daughter.
“I’m over the moon about that,” he says. “I’m lucky that I get to do all these things I love. The only thing I deal with is homesickness.”
