By admin
After an anxious three-year wait, You Me At Six have released their highly anticipated fifth album, ‘Night People’. The album shows a clear change from their previous album, ‘Cavalier Youth’, having moved away from their soft, pop-punk style and towards a heavier pop rock sound.
Unlike most artists, the band chose to preview five of the ten tracks on the album prior to its release, allowing their fans to stay engaged from day one.
The surrey quintet starts the album off strong with the title track they debuted at Reading Festival last year – a heavy beat with a catchy chorus to make it an all-round crowd pleaser, especially for live shows. The blues-inspired guitar riffs and heavy drums are what makes this record stand out from any other single, while the lyrics, although seemingly cliché at times, give the band the power of having their fans easily chant the words back at them.
The first song of a slower decline, ‘Heavy Soul’, sounds like it could have come from the Arizona-based band, The Maine, without a second glance. Josh Franceschi’s simple lyrics, yet slightly gritty voice holds the frustration needed to get the song’s point across – heartbreak.
Franceschi’s softer tone makes an appearance in track five, ‘Take on the World’, an anthemic tune that’s even slower than the last, and definitely tugs on your heartstrings. The song is directed to someone who’s hurting, and how he wished he was in their place instead, the power in his voice increasing as he sings with frustration, “Nobody knows you the way that I know you, look in my eyes, I will never desert you”.
‘Brand New’, ‘Make Your Move’ and ‘Swear’ are reminiscent of one of You Me At Six’s earlier records, ‘Sinners Never Sleep’. The repetitive guitar riffs that often stop and start between an angsty chorus is what the older fans will appreciate most, showing that the boys are still who they used to be while having more mature lyrics.
The penultimate track, ‘Spell It Out’, find’s Franceschi’s eerie vocals accompanied by a soft piano on what could possibly be one of the best songs on the album, showcasing the maturity of the band as they focus on the heavy guitar riffs and raw emotion of their singer’s voice.
The only conclusion of the album is that the band have set themselves a high level of expectation for their future music, ‘Night People’ being one killer of an album.
You can get tickets to their UK tour in April, here.
