Living with Lions "Island" Review
Picture this: a cool summer breeze with the warm sun on your skin, the ocean lapping at your ankles with your toes buried in the sand. Sounds like paradise right? Until you realize that your vessel is floating away without you and there are no signs of anyone or anything around you: you’re completely isolated with only your thoughts to keep you company.
Living with Lions new album Island touches upon the themes of nostalgia being a blessing and curse and also upon the importance of self-reflection. Nostalgia can be nice: getting lost in the memories of a better time can be a nice way to pass the time, but getting stuck in it for too long can make it hard to see the life that’s in front of you and that things aren’t always as good as they seemed in the past.
The pop-punk-esque guitars, along with the incredible harmonies found throughout the album keeps your head bopping, even when the lyrics get incredibly personal. But it’s knowing that we all go through the same struggles (past-relationships, feeling stuck, trying to figure out how to get better and move forward), that makes Island an endearing album.
Although the musical structure of the songs can get a bit repetitive at times, the lyrics and the sheer energy and love that you can tell was put into the album by the band keeps the listener engaged to get to the highlights of the album, including “Dusty Records”, “On A Rope”, and the album’s title/ending track “Island”.
Overall, the album sucks you in with the band’s renowned dynamics and melodies but comes up a bit short as anything unique or unheard of before in the world of the alternative genre. Still, Island is a solid end-of-summer release that will be great to incorporate into your favorite playlist in your collection. Catch the album out September 21st and be on the look-out for tour dates the rest of 2018 and into 2019!
