Release Date: Jan 6, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: BMG
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Upon first listen to the opening track of You Me At Six’s new album, it’s easy to see its potential for polarising opinion. The euphoric sheen of their last record ‘Cavalier Youth’ has been swapped for something altogether darker, groovier, and it sounds like nothing they’ve ever dared to try before. Yet, by the end of ‘Night People’s succinct ten tracks, it’s clear they’ve navigated their new musical direction very well.
They're back. It feels like a long time since You Me At Six truly surprised us all. In the nine years since their plucky, deliciously barbed debut album ‘Take Off Your Colours’ thrust them into the spotlight, the Surrey five-piece have grown into one of the slickest, most laser-focused outfits in rock music; cranking out arena-friendly anthems with a charm that few can match.
Surrey quintet You Me at Six make overwrought emotional anthemia that’s about as dangerous as a leather jacket. They’re also on the cusp of super-sizing into Britain’s next stadium band and this, their fifth album, has given them their second No 1. Out of all the rockers peddling the same generic chart angst – Paramore, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Fall Out Boy – at least YMAS attempt to suggest they might have gonads behind the guitars (alongside some noirish, Nasvillian touches from Kings of Leon producer Jacquire King).
The Surrey rock crew have built a steady success since their 2008 debut, finally topping the UK album chart with their last effort, Cavalier Youth, and this punchy, glossy fifth album is sure to cement their success among fans of Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro. Unlike those bands, however, You Me at Six still seem to have little originality or depth to offer. The meaty, swaggering title track and the racing Plus One are exhilarating, but moments of passing interest are few among the generic likes of Heavy Soul, with its identikit alt-rock, or the Royal Blood-ish thrasher Swear (“mine’s a Jameson”? Dear Lord).
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