There came Ivoryline
Posted June 09, 2008
By Nathan,
Leaving Texas behind, and the name Dead End Driveway, Ivoryline is already making a impact with their emo rock. Focusing on the music more than girls and stars, Ivoryline’s determination is already commendable. With help from one of the best produces in the business, Aaron Sprinkle, Ivoryline is out with their debut album There came a Lion.
Wondering about Ivoryline’s music? Emo rock with a heavy Anberlin influence, with an early Falling Up album formula and don’t forget the “dense blasts of guitars”. The launch of the debut album is “days end” a hard fast paced rock song which frequently changes from a light tune to a softer one, the one drawback is the ‘sleep’ and ’sweep’ part in the song gets repetitive quickly. The sense of emergency in Jeremy Gray vocals aids the good rock song, so is “parade” which is a faced paced rock song. The reason the metaphors about the music stay unchanged is the result of the similarity between many of the songs. When the chemistry does change, it is the result of the music switching from just a bad verse to a better part of the chorus in “all you ever”, which still isn’t very impressive.
One of the more Anberlin influenced songs and single “be still and breathe” sounds just a little off at parts, but is still a huge rock highlight. “Remind me I’m alive”, also with a Anberlin flair, has a pretty hard but melodic tune. “let us falling” is more the same solid emo rock, but “and the truth will end this” has a more upbeat rock style. Will an super chorus, “bravery” is a above average rock song for the album, but “hearts and minds” still falls into the category of good rock, with a tune which is not distant enough from most of the other songs. A major highlight “ is last words” which employs a similar style to that of “be still and breath” but it changes tunes more frequently with more grace than most of the album.
Trying to bridge their way past usual emo rock band simplicity when it comes to lyrics, Ivoryline does a better job then some. Among the vague references to Christianity, are clear cut references to their faith on “remind me I‘m alive” (‘everything I see reminds me/Of just how beautiful you can be’) and “be still and breathe” which is a hopeful statement. “Days end” has so many good things to say (‘we should scream "thank you" /with every waking breath… It is then when we will cry for forgiveness,/yet not understand the weight of our words/nor the depth of His love./But he will deliver’), and “hearts and minds” is solid too. But other lyrics are not so clear as parade says: ‘Kindness/is dead in this town /and drama has been crowned’.
Chances are Ivoryline could have been more direct, but as some projects go it’s more than clear enough. Individually most of the songs are good, some are even great but as a whole the music is in need of a little help. More musical diversity would be appreciated in future projects, but There came a Lion is a great place to start.
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