{"id":262,"date":"2018-02-08T13:46:57","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T13:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-dashboard-confessional-crooked-shadows\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:03:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:03:02","slug":"review-dashboard-confessional-crooked-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-dashboard-confessional-crooked-shadows\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Dashboard Confessional &#8211; Crooked Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"tmblr-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so5_r86_1280.jpg\" width=\"250em\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>In the eight years since <b>Dashboard Confessional<\/b> released an album, frontman Chris Carrabba has kept himself busy. Firstly he reunited with Further Seems Forever before taking a foray into Americana folk with Twin Forks. Nevertheless, Carrabba has now returned to the project that made him the \u201cemo\u201d poster boy of the mid-2000s.<\/p>\n<p>With a reputation for writing first-hand, deeply personal songs, <i>\u2018Crooked Shadows\u2019<\/i> sees Carrabba mature, taking on a more \u201cwe\u201d then \u201cme\u201d route. Nevertheless, there are familiar traits of <b>Dashboard<\/b>\u2019s emotive pop-rock style.<\/p>\n<p><i>&lsquo;We Fight\u2019<\/i> brilliantly starts things on a high. Carrabba\u2019s hushed vocals give way to an impassioned chorus covered in unity; <i>\u201cwe fight a way out\u201d<\/i>. When paired with the springy <i>&#8216;Catch You&rsquo;<\/i>, it&rsquo;s a bright opening.<\/p>\n<p><!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>Throughout his time as <b>Dashboard<\/b>, Carrabba has continuously proved his credentials as a sincere, anthemic songwriter. <i>&#8216;About Us&rsquo;<\/i> is the latest in a long line of these types of songs; uplifting and empowering. The title track follows in a similar vein as Carrabba&rsquo;s vocals soar alongside a distinctive guitar melody.<\/p>\n<p>At just nine songs deep, <i>\u2018Crooked Shadows\u2019<\/i> stylistically doesn&rsquo;t flow. Although it begins strongly, it lacks consistency as Carrabba and company provide a mix of steady pop-rock and bittersweet ballads. <i>\u2018Heartbeat Here\u2019<\/i> is the trademark intimate acoustic song that has somewhat defined <b>Dashboard Confessional<\/b>\u2019s career. Later <i>&#8216;Open My Eyes&rsquo;<\/i> arrives with succulent harmonies courtesy of Against The Current&rsquo;s Chrissy Costanza. Likewise, <i>&#8216;Just What To Say&rsquo;<\/i> comfortably plucks past the finish line as Carrabba sings about his struggles to express himself.<\/p>\n<p>While the blend of stripped back numbers and full-band efforts can be accepted, <i>&#8216;Belong&rsquo;<\/i> sticks out like an unfortunate sore thumb. With its irritating synth melodies and sun-soaked lyrics, it&rsquo;s an unfavourable misstep into EDM-pop. <\/p>\n<p>Although there are signs of progression, <i>\u2018Crooked Shadows\u2019<\/i> doesn&rsquo;t entirely mark a new chapter for <b>Dashboard Confessional<\/b>. While it&rsquo;s not a complete nostalgia-fest, <i>\u2018Crooked Shadows\u2019<\/i> does contain a handful of songs that fit in nicely into your <i>&ldquo;Essential Dashboard Confessional&rdquo;<\/i> playlist.<\/p>\n<p>3\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Crooked Shadows&rsquo;<\/i> by <b>Dashboard Confessional<\/b> is released on 9th February on <b> Fueled By Ramen<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Dashboard Confessional<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dashboardconfessional.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DashboardConfessional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dashboardmusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dashboardconfessional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by S\u00eaan Reid (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanReid86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the eight years since Dashboard Confessional released an album, frontman Chris Carrabba has kept himself busy. Firstly he reunited with Further Seems Forever before taking a foray into Americana folk with Twin Forks. Nevertheless, Carrabba has now returned to the project that made him the \u201cemo\u201d poster boy of the mid-2000s. With a reputation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[187,176,188,12398],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-crooked-shadows","tag-dashboard-confessional","tag-fueled-by-ramen","tag-sean-reid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Dashboard Confessional - Crooked Shadows - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the eight years since Dashboard Confessional released an album, frontman Chris Carrabba has kept himself busy. Firstly he reunited with Further Seems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Dashboard Confessional - Crooked Shadows - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the eight years since Dashboard Confessional released an album, frontman Chris Carrabba has kept himself busy. 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