Release Date: 17 November 2017
Label: The Fort
Genre: Pop-rock
Pop-rock band Phoenix Calling are back with their sophomore album ‘Our Lost Hearts’ two years after ‘Forget Your Ghosts’ debuted in 2015.
The album opens with the song ‘Atlas’ and the fast-paced melody throughout creates an upbeat and anthemic vibe from the outset. Following this, the strong riff with ‘Heroes (Old Soldiers)’ coupled with the more mellow verse highlight the range of styles and tones that will be featured throughout the album. Although this second track is not particularly game-changing, it is still a pleasant song regardless and is useful in establishing the diversity of Phoenix Calling’s sound, like an introductory taster to the rest of the album.
Following this is the much more memorable third song, ‘Rescue Me’, which is complemented by its catchy chorus and the steady beat and lead which resonate throughout the track. However, it is ‘Lose This’ which is the true stand-out track on ‘Our Lost Hearts’. This is a true pop-punk anthem with a style reminiscent of Blink-182’s ‘Go’ (from their 2003 self-titled album). It is the ‘whoa-oh-oh’ hook that then makes this song fully complete as it draws the backing and forefront layers of the track together, melding into a glorious song. This incredible sound is also similar in the tenth track, ‘Only Choices Decide’.
As the album reaches half way, the stripped back beginning to ‘This Town Belongs To Everyone’ accentuates the raw edge to the vocals and demonstrates the true power in this voice. With a strong drum beat throughout which is coupled with a soft guitar melody towards the middle, this is a song you could easily imagine yourself singing along to at a live show. Then into track 6, ‘Sins And Thieves’, the comparatively heavier instrumentals vocals coupled with the softness of the piano create a truly mesmerising and eclectic song which should be on everyone’s ‘favourites’ playlist.
Finally, the eleventh track ‘Fifty Four_Fourty Seven’ has a slow and beautiful melody throughout and is the stereotypical lighters-up song on the album. But, that said, it is incredibly powerful with vocals that are all-encompassing. Overall it’s a delightful round-off to ‘Our Lost Hearts’.
All in all, this album could have had some tweaks to some of the songs towards the middle, however it is a top-notch album. Phoenix Calling have clearly made huge progress musically since their last album and this has paid off greatly. ‘Our Lost Hearts’ is a smashing album which and pop-rock fans could very easily and very happily pick up and listen to.
Rating: 7/10
Recommended Track: Lose This
To find out more about Phoenix Calling, find them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or their own website.
Want to see Phoenix Calling on tour? Make sure you catch them when they head out to the following cities in the UK on the Our Lost Hearts Tour:
18.11.17 – Peterborough – The Met Lounge
19.11.177 – Cambridge – Portland Arms
20.11.17 – Ashton-under-Lyne – The Witchwood
21.11.17 – Glasgow – Audio
22.11.17 – Milton Keynes – MK11
26.11.17 – Norwich – Waterfront
28.11.17 – Camden (London) – Black Heart
01.12.17 – Birmingham – O2 Academey 3