A Breathtaking New Musical Empire
Posted April 21, 2014
By JJFrancesco_NRT, Staff Reviewer
New Empire has been building quite the buzz around their new release, In A Breath. While not a new face to the Australian Music Scene, this album marks their debut to the U.S. market through Tooth & Nail.
Lead single "Relight The Fire" has already garnered quite a lot of attention, hitting over 1 million hits on YouTube before the signing with T&N was even announced. Standing as an album highlight, it's a rousing example of what the album has to say, offering one of the year's most singable choruses as well as savory hooks to ensure that once you hear this song, you'll probably be singing it to yourself for quite some time.
The other single, "Say It Like You Mean It," is another of the album highlights. With an opening hook that sounds pulled from something a band like Degarmo & Key did back in the late '80s, the rousing anthem is still fresh and exciting. "The Sun Won't Sleep" is another standout in the style of these.
There are a lot of musical surprises here. Be it the chilling piano intros, the sure-to-be-polarizing spoken word/rap in the bridge of "Left Behind," or even the horn-driven bridge of the title track, there are so many layers to all of these songs that it's easy to get swept away in the album's atmosphere.
There's an unavoidable likeability to every note that makes the album feel somewhat grand and groundbreaking, even if it's not really doing anything truly different or revolutionary. There are also a lot of moments where I was reminded of other artists, but in a subtle and flattering way that never felt like a rip off. Exciting album opener "Tale of Jonah" had some echoes of House of Heroes, and I even felt some softer Falling Up vibes on the crooning, piano-driven verses of "Wise Fox."
There's the aforementioned Degarmo & Key-esque hook. But most of all, at many points, lead vocalist Jeremy Fowler reminds me a lot of Joshua Pearson, vocalist of the very-much-missed Nevertheless. These are good comparisons, and not exactly the crew of influences you'd initially expect to find on one album. And they are so nuanced that it makes for an almost completely new sound, which is exciting to find in pop/rock.
The album has some legitimate emotional high points towards the end. "Left Behind" boasts an electronic veneer and the aforementioned near-rap bridge that would almost make it seem like just another pop number. But when you get to the chorus, there's an almost moving emotional quality that speaks of something deeper and would almost be at home in a memorial song. So it should come as little surprise to discover that this song was written in memory of those killed at the Boston Marathon. Now the race imagery and the chorus, before a kindly metaphor, take on deep new spiritual and human meanings.
This leads well into the personal and mellow "A Little Braver," which starts with a gentle piano hook and soft vocals before the song hits it's stride with an orchestral backing that drives the song to anthem status. "Outshine The Brightest" continues the feel appropriately and serves as a fine conclusion to the album--that is, outside of the bonus inclusion of "Relight The Fire (Acoustic)," which provides a new emotional depth to the hit.
Closing Thoughts:
New Empire definitely plays with the experience and maturity of a band with a few albums under their belt already. In A Breath a legitimate gourmet gem of an album and a definitely highlight for 2014. It's bound to draw criticism merely due to the hype surrounding it and how it might not be redefining the genre the way some might be expecting.
But from the album cover, to the ridiculously catchy hits, to the sure-to-be-classic hooks, this album just feels like one to remember. Hopefully this is the start of a long and successful US run for the Aussie band. This reviewer is certainly going to be looking forward to whatever these guys put out in the future. Especially with summer just over the horizon, this is definitely a must-hear album.
Song to Download Now:
"Relight The Fire" (Get it on iTunes here.)
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