This album was a long time coming.
It has been a long hard struggle to get this album out into the hands of the fans. This is despite it being produced beautifully by Neal Avron (Yellowcard, Fall Out Boy, Everclear), despite the band being fronted by one of the most vocally talented front men in the music scene, and despite the album being one of the best I’ve heard all year (if not the past few years). Apparently the problem with greatness is that no one appreciates it in it’s time.
Combining the pop-sensibility of Coldplay with the oldies jam sound of Simon and Garfunkle, Days Away have come into a sound with the potential to last through the ages. This album, in my opinion, should be a staple in everyone’s collection. Despite what genre you find yourself leaning towards – this is one of those bands you can appreciate for the pure talent and beauty in their music. Do not be afraid to try something a little different, and outside of your comfort zone – because the journey you will take in Mapping and Invisible World is a trip unlike you have experienced before.
This album was an instant favorite of mine, from the first time I listened up through the 600th; however, my love for the album has only grown with each listen. You need to listen to the album over, and over, and over to truly grasp the greatness in the songs. This isn’t an album crafted to have you bouncing up and down to bubble-gum pop (which is probably why they were idiotically passed over by a certain major label) – this is an album created with music in mind – not hooks. This becomes apparent the more you listen, the more you allow yourself to become entranced with the sound, and the more you close the doors to your room and turn up the dial on the volume.
I can’t give you a track by track analysis of the album, and I can’t really describe to you each song as an individual entity, as I feel this is one of the rare occasions in which the album MUST be experienced as a whole. The story, the feeling, the emotion, and the pureness comes out when the album is listened to all together. The music then has a chance to become alive – each song a chance to breathe into your ear and whisper its secrets.
A tinge of rock, hints of pop, slow songs, faster songs, melody, enchanting beats, and vocal supremacy all bring forth one of the most haunting albums in the past few years. It is up to the fans, and the music scene, to show all the fuckers in suits how they missed one of the best bands. Don’t make the same mistake.