{"id":429,"date":"2018-01-11T21:20:13","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T21:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-tonight-alive-underworld\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:03:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:03:03","slug":"review-tonight-alive-underworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-tonight-alive-underworld\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Tonight Alive – Underworld"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The career of Tonight Alive<\/b> has been a curious path of highs and lows. 2016\u2019s third outing, \u2018Limitless\u2019<\/i>, divided opinion as they shifted from pop-rock to a synthpop-centric sound. The Aussie collective have now returned albeit as a four-piece following the departure of guitarist Whakaio Taahi. On paper, ‘Underworld\u2019<\/i>, appears promising with its deeply personal lyrical nature and guitar-driven sound.<\/p>\n

‘Book of Love\u2019<\/i>, bridges the gap between ‘Limitless\u2019<\/i> and ‘Underworld\u2019<\/i> with its energetic tempo and subtle use of synth keys. However, the slick production shine it\u2019s given doesn\u2019t have the impact you\u2019d hope from an opening track. Thankfully, ‘Temple\u2019<\/i> quickly arrives with straight-up rock guitars, a catchy chorus and Jenna McDougall\u2019s confessional words striking a chord as she opens with “I’m intoxicated by my depression”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the run-up to its release, McDougall\u2019s introspective and cathartic songwriting became the main focus. While ‘Disappear\u2019<\/i> and ‘Temple\u2019<\/i> admirably highlight her mental struggles, McDougall\u2019s issues doesn\u2019t truly shine until the closing trio. ‘Last Light\u2019<\/i> is a steady paced, harmonious full of lyrical relief. ‘Looking For Heaven\u2019<\/i> is the token ballad yet McDougall\u2019s emotion is executed with cathartic relief. While ‘My Underworld\u2019<\/i> (featuring a certain Mr Corey Taylor) nicely drifts along before both vocalists effectively bring closure, both lyrically and figuratively, to the album.<\/p>\n

Despite McDougall\u2019s lyrical openness, ‘Underworld\u2019<\/i> is hindered by production niggles. Songs such as ‘In My Dreams\u2019<\/i>, ‘For You\u2019<\/i> and ‘Just For Now\u2019<\/i> suffer from the accessible shine given. However, it\u2019s clear Tonight Alive can deliver big choruses in abundance. Songs such as ‘The Other\u2019<\/i> and ‘Crack My Heart\u2019<\/i> thrive with soaring emotion and conviction. Later cuts, ‘Burning On\u2019<\/i> and ‘Waiting For The End\u2019<\/i>, do their best to match but don\u2019t quite pull it off.<\/p>\n

Having tested the synthpop waters last time out, ‘Underworld\u2019<\/i> is a safer effort. Although it\u2019s far from exceptional, due to one too many forgettable tracks, Tonight Alive<\/b> have found their feet again as a promising, melodic rock band.<\/p>\n

3\/5<\/p>\n

‘Underworld’<\/i> by Tonight Alive<\/b> is released on 12th January on Hopeless Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Tonight Alive<\/b> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by S\u00eaan Reid (@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The career of Tonight Alive has been a curious path of highs and lows. 2016\u2019s third outing, \u2018Limitless\u2019, divided opinion as they shifted from pop-rock to a synthpop-centric sound. The Aussie collective have now returned albeit as a four-piece following the departure of guitarist Whakaio Taahi. On paper, ‘Underworld\u2019, appears promising with its deeply personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[246,12398,326,333],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-hopeless-records","tag-sean-reid","tag-tonight-alive","tag-underworld"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Tonight Alive - Underworld - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The career of Tonight Alive has been a curious path of highs and lows. 2016\u2019s third outing, \u2018Limitless\u2019, divided opinion as they shifted from pop-rock to\" \/>\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: Tonight Alive - 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