Allowance’s really eerie start works perfectly as an intro for the album, but it's all about the shift to upbeat; it's one of the songs that's most affected by the non CD quality I think. It's not fully clicked with me; the dual track vocals thing has me at ends. Chorus is very strong in a Gravity/HIPT kind of way, it works really well though.
Fire In The Henhouse was the first song I played, heard the intro & fell in love with the incredible riff again before going through the album fully. Now having done that, I wasn’t as keen on the verses as I was the intro, but it’s a grower. Works really well the lyrics, and shows of the brilliant drum beat. The chorus fits better with the whole song than The Wolf, but I think I still prefer the original. The guitar solo is a bit random, but is just badass, works with the immensely cool nature of the song.
Heavyweight we’ve all digested, but in comparison to the rest of the album, it does stand out as being the most predictable song in terms of structure. Still brilliant IMO – would love to have a release of an acoustic version like the one they practised before New Year’s, that’d be fantastic
Window Seat sounds like it came from Hunters Lullaby – it’s very atmospheric and I think I’ll appreciate it far more when it sinks in - but it’s outshined by other songs on the album.
As Fast As You Can is just
. Radically different, and sounds Britpop/Indie but with a really happy vibe and backing track- It’s a damn catchy song and I’m glad it’s being appreciated, a few might not like it, but it’s so daring and different. It’s really well pulled off and would love to see more of this style.
If This Is It has a very distinct feeling, especially as it follows As Fast As You Can. It slows down the pace well, lyrics are very post Gravity, which in this case is a good thing. The great guitar work once again, and Jeremy’s crashes make this song complete, they add the missing piece to Raine’s distant vocals.
Will Someday Change is beautiful and had me tearing up, no joke. Let me start by saying that Al Genina is a top 3 OLP song for me. I’m a fool for a quiet piano and acoustic guitar. Raine’s lyrics are a ballad for the comfort found in melancholy. The lack of paranoid vocals that many of us secretly hope for is justified by the gentle falsetto here in the choruses. The softness is critical, and the ending falsetto is haunting. The ending has a bit of Jonny Cash Hurt to it with the crescendo. This is just wow.
Find Our Way is Steve’s pinnacle. The tame verses paired up by some ferocious guitar work, it’s a great partnership. The chorus ledas in perfectly to some Naveed/Clumsy esque guitar work, just without ridiculously heavy grunge distortion. But que the 3 minute mark, and then with a little falsetto we have a massive, massive Johnny Greenwood style solo, and it’s sure to be a fan favourite.
Rabbits immediately reminds me of Pearl Jam Black. Not lyrically, but musically- the ending is a mirror to me. It’s a 2012 take on a song that could easily be a single for Happiness is not a fish you can catch, smooth lower tone vocals are the order of the day. It’s kind of the “first ending” to the album, with a nice subdued outro.
Mettle is a natural end to the album; it serves its purpose as outro. It’s not meant to be a single, it’s firmly an album closer, and a very good one at that. Curve is an album that I’m sure many people will listen to from start to end, and Mettle’s come down works perfectly. I’m yet to really delve into the lyrics and spoken word, but they seem to really exist throughout the album. It’s the concept coming full circle.
Each of these songs seems solid enough to slide into any Our Lady Peace album - the selection process had me worried at first, but they really have pulled off an incredibly consistent album.
