After their introduction to the more mainstream world Make Your Mark a few years ago Living With Lions went through a few things. This includes losing a bass player and vocalist and signing a deal with Adeline. In the meantime the band regrouped and recorded a new album. The big question is after losing members, especially a vocalist, how does the band come back after such a loss? Well surprisingly the band have embraced a more rock and roll influence. This is not to say that they are now slinging guitar solos and screeching through songs. Instead there is a higher attention paid to melodic parts and less time spent on playing fast.
The real issue one could take from the style of the album is it is very much a mid tempo affair. While this is not necessarily a bad thing it is rather different for a band that plays pop punk generally speaking. While the songs do go by at a rapid clip even when they pick up the tempo during "In Your Light" it drops back down during the chorus. For as odd as this feels at first to anyone familiar to the band, it actually helps to preserve the choruses and somehow help to make them catchier.
So another big question one could ask revolves around the vocalist change. How does the new singer stack up? Pretty well actually, Stu Ross of Lowtalker and Misery Signals has taken over and his slightly gruff style of "singing' gives a forceful push to the songs. At times reminiscent of Hot Water Music and then reverting to a slightly more melodious tone. This lets the vocals become capable of playing center stage without becoming monotonous entirely.
The rest of the instrumentation is played very well and recorded even more perfectly. This certainly helps to highlight the more rock and roll style the band seems to embracing overall.
Generally speaking, this would seem like an attempt at "maturity" if one were to disregard the member changes since the last record. Keeping the member changes in mind, this is the sound of a band getting back to their feet and finding their direction. While this record is enjoyable and certainly a step in a good direction it also does much to forfeit the bands past. This leaves fans at a crossroads. Follow the band dowm their new path or call thems sellouts or whatever moderately annoying or offensive title one could gather. I would suggest following as the band shows that they can write great hooks and catchy choruses without making their songs solely about those parts.
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