I’m not going to lie, when I heard the opening track ‘Believe’ I was sure it was the beginning of a Disney soundtrack – and I don’t really like Disney. Though luckily, all strange choices in sound effects aside, the song made up for itself. There was still a bit of my feeling a bit uneasy at the balance between the synth, keys and vocals and whether they actually worked together at all?
Second off the bat and it seems to be a completely different band, if this were a CD I think I may have actually taken it out to check. ‘Compound Fracture’ is an all-round great track. There’s a sort of soulful-rock ’70s vibe and while elements in the previous song mightn’t have worked I can’t really fault this one. Where was this track five minutes ago?
There’s really a lot to take in in this album and it’s not the kind of thing you can sum up in one sitting. There are so many different styles, genres, techniques and topics covered in each track. Clearly the band have sought a lot of different inspirations from this release, but the main constant seems to be the ’70s vibe. I’d check out ‘Compound Fracture’, ‘Spring’ and ‘Thin Line’. Oh, and did I mention ‘Thin Line’? Seriously, it’s a goodie.
My one piece of advice: skip the first track, it’s a confusing introduction to an otherwise pretty standout release. This is also the kind of album that isn’t a listen from start to finish release, it’s best taken in fractions, so throw it on your iPod and shuffle this baby up!
Out now via Capitol Records
Reviewed by Amanda Sherring
