There’s been an uprising of UK melodic rock bands in recent years, each looking to put their own edge to the genre whilst maintaining radio appeal for the masses. On ‘Not Alone’, Lincoln quintet Carry The Crown show exceeding amounts of skill and potential to match those who have paved the way. After forming in 2016, they have built a sound that shows fluency as a unit. Each track on ‘Not Alone’ is mature and radio-friendly, with scope for mass appeal across the field of pop-rock.
Carry The Crown have an emotive range to their music, crafting tracks that aren’t only lyrically relatable, but carry feeling within the tight instrumentation. ‘Not Alone’ opens defiantly with ‘Fire’, a punchy accusation ripe and ready for mosh pits. By contrast, ’Say You’ll Stay’ is lighter and highlights vocalist Martin James’s outstanding vocal range. Though the track is predictable it’s well arranged and more anthemic in tone, range and – incredibly reminiscent of early You Me At Six.
Memorable and distinctively triumphant, ‘Hold Me’ has an emotive raised lighters appeal, while the chorus of follow up track ‘Hometown’ thrives with a looser bouncing exhilaration, providing a standout moment of the EP. Closing with ‘Eyes’, and returning to the aggression of ‘Fire’, gives the EP a cyclical feel and closes with a snarling attitude indicating the band mean business.
Carry The Crown have put all of their efforts into making this EP sound great, and fans and new listeners alike will no doubt be impressed with the quality. Though the band showcase their talents as musicians there is an undeniable sense of familiarity within these songs; a feeling that the templates for their tracks have been littered around alternative rock for some time. Despite the intent, often the sense of integrity is somewhat displaced. This suggests that Carry The Crown perhaps know a little too well exactly what works, leaving their originality masked by their influences.
3/5
‘Not Alone’ EP by Carry The Crown is out now.
Carry The Crown links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Instagram
Words by Annabel Platt (@BIMMBrighton)
