Untimely blast from the past
Ontario-based band Silverstein released their album A Beautiful Place to Drown earlier this month, making this the band’s tenth studio album to date. Silverstein’s historical success as emo-rock poster children has earned them an admirable following, making A Beautiful Place to Drown a highly anticipated 2020 album in the punk scene. The band—composed of lead vocalist Shane Told, guitarists Paul Marc Rousseau and Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton and drummer Paul Koehler—is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and claims A Beautiful Place to Drown to be a fresh take on their respected sound, promising this album to be an exciting contemporary makeover. With well over four million Spotify downloads, “Burn it Down” and “Infinite” already show promise as cult favorites from this latest release, so it’s past time to tackle Silverstein’s most recent release in all of its emo glory.
With a playtime of thirty-seven minutes and twelve full-length songs, A Beautiful Place to Drown does not skimp on content. From start to finish, each of these tracks is fully flushed with sound, making the listener experience “immersive” at best. Unfortunately, what this album stretches in pure material it lacks in quality. Silverstein’s beloved following is based in an early 2000’s emo garage-rock revival, and despite claiming to deliver raw new style, A Beautiful Place to Drown tends to lean towards a safe yet cheesy teenage pop-rock culture.
The album begins with “Bad Habits,” which launches the listener into an angsty encounter with simple but clear guitar and bass riffs and well-mixed vocals reminiscent of Owl City. The instrumentation in “Bad Habits” sets up the album for a risk-free approach. Though of excellent quality and skill, there are very few “wow” moments from Silverstein’s talented musicians (“Bad Habits’” riveting guitar solos being an uncommon exception). The most stand-out elements of this song were indicative of traits of the album in its entirety—musical speed, clarity and flashy synth and pedal effects.
A Beautiful Place to Drown’s bulk is constituted by early 2000s pop-rock songs with a regrettable repetitiveness. Songs “Burn It Down,” “Say Yes!,” “Stop,” “September 14th” and “Shapeshift” lack memorability and get lost within the album’s overall sound, and therefore don’t draw sufficient listener attention. However, several songs stand out from the pack with unique and likable characteristics. Princess Nokia’s feature on “Madness” exudes sultry rock-and-roll and complements Told’s rather intense vocals in the body of the song. “All On Me” also draws listener attention with a relished change of pace—calming synth and distinct drum beats layered with softer vocals to build up an enjoyable intimate listening experience as compared to the rest of the album. Similarly, “Infinite” starts quieter before leaping into one of the catchier songs of the album. However, the obvious standout in A Beautiful Place to Drown is the album ending “Coming Down.” It’s catchy, unique and a downright pleasant indulgence—if you don’t mind the occasional high-school bop.
A Beautiful Place to Drown is frankly too long to be as repetitive as it is, and for such a respected band, one would have hoped for a daring change of pace. Instead, Silverstein seems to have chosen to play it safe and stick to a cheesy version of their original sound. On a positive note, there are several songs on this album that deserve at least a once-over, and the sound quality and mixing are emblematic of an accomplished group. Silverstein has not reached its finality, and it’s rare to find a band that hasn’t released a disappointing set of songs at least once, so hope is not yet vanquished! By honing into the best parts of this album, there is yet time for improvement and modernism from Silverstein. For now, Silverstein should focus on taking a farther leap—if a leap is what they’re after—and utilize their honed talents in a riskier (and more fun) future studio release.
Leave a Comment