By John Bedard
My first gut reaction was that this was not going to be an album I would fall in love with but as time went on it began to grow on me. At the risk of sounding like a snob, I normally prefer things to be a little more refined with more of a feeling of a sense of direction than is here at first glance. That being said, with further listening the noise started to clear away to become something I could dig into better. The structure of the tracks began to make sense and, honestly, I began to like what I was hearing.
Like I said above, there is a lot of noise to cut through at first which is very on-brand for the genre although this is more aggressive than it has been in the past when I would dip my toes into the genre. In the interest of full disclosure, it is not a genre I spend much time in. As time goes on though you begin to find some nice evolving measures that begin to add depth to the music and give you something to explore even if at times things get a bit repetitive. Even though I would not say there is anything that particularly stands out there is a good variety to many of the compositions that are worth hearing.
One big complaint I do have is a feeling the vocals are too overpowered. There is very rarely a time when I can tell what is being said and it is not because it is overly distorted or anything but just because it is lost in the mix. It is a shame too because the vocal style is quite fun and well-executed but just gets lost. Some tracks have this issue more than others and some of the vocals cut through nicely. While it is annoying it is not bad enough to totally ruin the experience.
I realize I sound pretty negative above, I don’t mean to. I did enjoy the album but that being said I don’t think it will be one that I end up going back to all the time. If you are a fan of the genre I have a feeling that you will probably like this better than I. Probably not a world-changer but a good entry to your collection. For me, though it was nice to visit and I had fun but I think it’s time to head home now. The party is a little too noisy.
- ‘Let’s Not (And Say We Did)’ is released on 29 January. You can get your copy HERE.
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