Bright Futures, Indeed


Irish rockers And So I Watch You From Afar recently dropped their newest album, All Hail Bright Futures and dear god does it rock. As my friend and fellow reviewer Davd Gentile put it, if the previous albums were the battle, this album is the victory after the battle. While certainly as aggressively rocking as previous albums, an overwhelmingly positive attitude prevails in this fantastic album, currently my favorite album of 2013.
In addition to a change in attitude from previous ventures, there's also a significant change in instrumentation. Synths, trumpets, flutes, and even a steel drum make an appearance, and vocals play a much heavier role than in previous albums. While some might miss the simplicity of the roaring guitars, I find that the added instrumentation makes for a much more eclectic and varied sound.
What absolutely hasn't changed from previous energy is the level of energy that is brought on this album. If you're not on your feet dancing to Big Thinks Do Remarkable, then you probably have no soul because the happiness and power in that song is incredibly infectious. More than many other albums I've listened to, All Hail Bright Futures pushes its positivity and happiness onto you. Not since In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has an album had such an impact on my emotions, although this impact is significantly more positive.
As far as complaints go, I really don't have many, and they're mostly nitpicks at that. Every once in a while, some of the grooves they get start to feel a bit repetitive. Most of the climaxes hit pretty hard, but the in between bits occasionally drag for me. An example of this is in Like a Mouse. The intro groove, which gets repeated elsewhere throughout the song, drags on just a bit too long for me. The effect is really not much more than just a slight drag in momentum. It's a drag that's almost immediately picked back up, but it can still be felt.
Another complaint that I have is that songs sort of feel similar at times. Very often, the lead guitar makes a fast run over the melody in a very clean, crisp guitar tone. I like what he's playing, but the style he plays it in starts to feel similar. In fact, the style and tone across the whole album starts to feel a bit repetitive. While there are slower tracks, including Young Brave Minds, a lot of the tracks feature the same brand of beat-you-over-the-head positivity, and it can begin to lose its impact.
Perhaps my favorite track on the whole album is that final track, Young Brave Minds. It starts as a quiet, simple rhythm and builds slowly through the 7:22 track. By the end, it has grown into a wave of different instrumentation, all blending and growing together that is just chaotic enough to be mind-blowing but just organized enough to not be overwhelming. It's almost orchestral in its breadth and complexity, while never losing sight of the rock roots that ASIWYFA came from.
On the arbitrary scale I've decided to use today, Buy/Hold/Sell, this album gets an enthusiastic Buy. It's my favorite album so far this year, and one of my favorite albums of all time. Even if you're not that into instrumental rock, this album's bombastic attitude and emotional power give it a large amount of genre transcendence.