What do you mean? Years ago, Mike has encouraged fans to share his music, even before its release. Plus, I’ve bought 3 copies of the new album. Sharing their music with a member of LPA is frowned upon? I apologize if I crossed a line, guys.
Yeah, it's actually against the rules, especially when it pertains to a highly-anticipated upcoming album.
My immediate thoughts on the album: Spoiler From Zero (Intro): I really enjoyed the actual musical parts of the intro. Not a huge fan of the "dialogue from in the studio" though. I'd much rather if it was a smoother transition between this and TEM, a la Foreword/Don't Stay, Tinfoil/Powerless, Drawbar/Final Masquerade. Cut the Bridge: I can see this one being really fun live. The chorus is made for a crowd sing-along though a bit repetitive. Comparisons to BIO are valid in that I felt very similarly about that song on release. Casualty: This is what THP should have been, IMO. The distorted harsh Mike vocals in the verses are a nice change-up, and the advertised Emily screamy pants deliver. Overflow: This song is the most ATS. That means, surprising no one, that it was my favorite of the album. It was also around this point that I realized that the lyric-writing on this album has either been a massive step up from LP's past attempts or at the very least not had some of the obvious cringe lines that happen now and again. Two Faced: This feels like a carbon copy of a nu-metal era LP song, and they even lampshade that by playing a sample of Stick N Move. Honestly I could see myself being meh about this song in other circumstances but having a female vocal changes it up enough for me to enjoy it. The repetition of "caught in the middle" in the chorus makes me think of Caught in the Middle by Paramore, though they're two completely different songs and the delivery of the line is different. Stained: I never expected an LP song to give "summer anthem" vibes, but here we are. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Also yeah, Feel This Moment vocal run on this one. IGYEIH: I have decided the pronunciation of the acronym IGYEIH like the beginning of igloo + "yuh" is funny and that's what I'm calling it from now on. Anyways this song was fun but not really memorable on first listen aside from the ending, which just has Em repeating the title line over and over in a way that I can see being very tiring to scream live. Good Things Go: This has great closer vibes. Nice triplet flow from Mike, and the vocals by Emily here are insane. Me and the friends I was mainly talking to while ignoring Gibs were getting more shocked the higher she'd go. Also I'm not sure if it was the folks at Josey Records hitting the stop button too late, but was there a little choral bit at the end of GTG that is meant to loop into the intro track? It's really interesting how many different sounds they achieved on this record, almost like a variety pack. There's a little something for everyone here yet it also feels somewhat cohesive. I can't wait to deep dive into it further but this was a really solid reintroduction to the band. I look forward to how they inevitably weird it up for the next record, because it's clear they are still wanting to branch out into new territory even here.