Release Date: 16/10/2020
Record Label: Rise Records
For Fans Of: The Maine, We The Kings, Real Friends
For many of us 2020 has quickly become a year that will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons; a time in our lives where the brightest colours have faded, the sweetest tastes have soured, and the warmest aspects of life have chilled. You’d be forgiven for thinking that new material from emo heavyweights Mayday Parade might be just one emotional rollercoaster too many in the current climate, but quite frankly you would be wrong. Out Of Here is a three-track EP that restores a splash of colour, a hint of sweetness, and a sea of warmth, when it’s never been more needed.
Mayday Parade have forged a remarkable career, crafting empowering and emotional ballads but the five-piece have always endeared fans with an air of reassurance within their music, a sense of belonging, and the idea that you’re never alone. A recurring theme from the band has always been discovering self-appreciation and mustering confidence from within, and ‘Lighten Up Kid’ is no different. The track is a lyrical barrage of intrusive thoughts, but underpinning it is a belief that you’re capable of overcoming and succeeding. It kicks, slaps, and screams, like a kid hearing the word no but there’s nothing immature about the song.
Out Of Here delivers a jolt of energy from the outset with ‘First Train’. Bursting at the seams with vibrancy, and possessing a lung-busting chorus that requires a head-tilt as you scream it to the gods, this song is everything this band represents. It wouldn’t be an authentic release from Mayday Parade however if there wasn’t a track capable of ripping the still-beating heart from your chest and effortlessly toying with it. ‘I Can Only Hope’ is that song; you have been warned! It’s emotive lyrics cut deep but they don’t tell you anything you’ve not heard or felt before.
Mayday Parade’s adoring fanbase will relish in this release, an EP that acts as a reminder of what this band are capable of. Out Of Here gives us hope that when normality returns there are some killer live shows awaiting us where we can raise our beer in the air and pour our hearts out in a crowded room of strangers. Long live Mayday Parade, puppeteers of human emotions.
Rating: 8/10
Recommended Track: ‘I Can Only Hope’