The alternative rockers from Northern Ireland release their first album since 2008's A Hundred Million Suns. This album was released in the UK and in parts of Europe as early as November of last year but, for us Yanks, it arrived in stores last week.
The best thing about the album is frontman Gary Lightbody's distinctive crooning and storytelling style that we've come to love on their previous album is still as distinctive and unique as ever. Unfortunately, the sweeping, melodic tracks that the band is known for are toned down on this disc and the songs run on the boring side.
The band spent extra time crafting these tracks but they lack the depth of the band's previous works. The first two singles, "Called Out In the Dark" and "This Isn't Everything," are the rare tracks from the album that showcase the magic of old but even their most recent single, "New York," is more plodding that enjoyable.
Fans of the band like myself will find a handful of songs to like on this 14-tracks but overall Fallen Empires ends up being a disappointment on multiple levels. The songs are less catchy in general, the melodies are less buoyant, and the lyrics are less inspired than what came before. If this is the sound the band creates when they have extra time to craft songs, please return to the basics.
Score: 6/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Called Out In the Dark" [sample it below] and "The Garden Rules"
This obviously pun-loving trio hails from San Diego and, according to a couple of friends I have living in the area, put on a really good live show that really highlights the band's ability to mix electronica and pop in a way that is beyond electropop. I wasn't familiar with the band so I jumped at the chance to review their latest release out this week.
The music presented to us is definitely electropop although its more like trance and house beats with lyrics overlaid than what I would traditionally associate with a more standard electropop band. A third of the 9-tracks disc feature raps by guest Scarub which also skews the music away from shoehorning the songs into a standard genre.
Like on the track "Swear Me" with Scarub, the band goes one step further giving us a Daft Punk-esque trance heavy electronic backing and Scarub's rapping is limited to a small section but the song is elevated to something greater due to the careful and intricate blending of the various styles.
The other tracks aren't bad by any means but other than one or two ("Fernetik" definitely springs to mind as a fun gem) but they do have less appeal. Overall it's an album that is far from perfect but definitely shows enough spunk for me to recommend to both electronica and electropop fans.
Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Fake Yr Death", "Fernetik" and "Swear Me"
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