{"id":416,"date":"2018-01-18T13:24:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T13:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-the-xcerts-hold-on-to-your-heart\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T13:13:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T12:13:57","slug":"review-the-xcerts-hold-on-to-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-the-xcerts-hold-on-to-your-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Xcerts &#8211;\u00a0Hold On To Your Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/2ccccf436b11744899d355849bc2fd77\/tumblr_oczgq9lfGb1r8no6so1_r172_1280.jpg\" width=\"250em\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">If there was a band who are due a wealth of success, it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/tag\/the-xcerts\/\"><strong>The Xcerts<\/strong><\/a>. Over the course of three albums and numerous support slots, the trio have amassed a tight-knit following yet have seen their contemporaries arrive, gain widespread exposure and then disappear. Nevertheless, LP #4 aims to change all that as they come out with all guns blazing. Influenced by the likes of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and 80s teen movies, <i>\u2018Hold On To Your Heart\u2019<\/i> serves up 10 sublime slices of anthemic rock.<\/p>\n<p>Eased in by the piano-led opener <i>\u2018The Dark\u2019<\/i>, Murray MacLeod\u2019s familiar sombre tone gives way to the bright and thriving <i>\u2018Daydream\u2019<\/i>. <b>The Xcerts<\/b> have never shied away from embracing their pop sensibilities and <i>\u2018Daydream\u2019<\/i> is just one of many tracks that does this. While in the past, their execution has been somewhat cold and angst-driven, songs such as <i>\u2018Crazy\u2019<\/i> and the title track comfortably live in the 80s-tinged pop-rock spectrum.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Xcerts - Feels Like Falling in Love\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PLphw-hsh7g?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>Undoubtedly, <i>\u2018HOTYH\u2019<\/i> thrives on the momentum of back-to-back infectious songs. <i>\u2018Feel Like Falling In Love\u2019<\/i> hasn\u2019t lost any momentum since its release last summer. Capturing the constant theme of hope, it\u2019s brilliantly paired up with <i>\u2018First Kiss Feeling\u2019<\/i>. Together, they flourish with lyrical optimism. By the time you reach the screeching saxophone on <i>&#8216;Drive Me Wild\u2019<\/i>, you\u2019re caught up in the Springsteen-influenced radiance that <b>the Xcerts<\/b> (and Black Peaks\u2019 Will Gardner) have produced.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Cry\u2019<\/i> perfectly captures the 80s movie tone. As it drifts along, you can imagine the credits rolling with Murray\u2019s melancholic confession of <i>\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to make you cry, I\u2019m sorry\u201d<\/i> before a rich sax solo takes over. It neatly ties up what <i>\u2018HOTYH\u2019<\/i> is all about; a personal journey of lost love, hope and reflection.<\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s somewhat of a departure for <b>the Xcerts<\/b>; the bleakness of past releases has been replaced by radiant positivity that grows with each listen. Through collective personal troubles in recent years, <b>the Xcerts<\/b> show there is light at the end of the tunnel. And with songs as euphoric as they\u2019re on here, that light is unbelievably bright.<\/p>\n<p>5\/5<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/0dUfvaLw6L22guWr1ldEr2?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Hold On To Your Heart\u2019<\/i> by <b>The Xcerts<\/b> is released on 19th January on <b>Raygun Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Xcerts<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thexcertsband.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Thexcerts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thexcerts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thexcerts\/\" 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>&#8220;\u2018Hold On To Your Heart\u2019 serves up 10 sublime slices of anthemic rock.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[308,309,296],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-hold-on-to-your-heart","tag-raygun-records","tag-the-xcerts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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