Having been a huge fan of The Vamps for a really long time, of course I was excited to hear some new music from them. Lately they have steered away from the acoustic-driven sound they are known for (and I love them for) and moved towards a more electronic sound, to fit in with what currently seems to dominate the charts. Although change can sometimes be good, do I think the new sound is a good idea?
The first two songs of the album, Middle Of The Night and All Night, both feature DJS – Martin Jensen and Matoma respectively. Although the songs have grown on me, as a fan liking The Vamps for their ‘acoustic driven’ sound they began with, I felt this was totally lost just to keep up with the current chart trend of electronic music.
Hands, the third track, was such a bop of a tune on tour, but although I do prefer it to the first two, by this point I was really hoping they’d finally stop working with producers. For this track, they teamed up with some guy called Mike Perry and Sabrina Carpenter who’s addition to the song I don’t particularly appreciate.
The fourth track, Same To You, doesn’t feature a producer but is still an electronically produced track. It’s alright, Brad’s vocals sound great on it as usual, but I’m seriously wondering what James and Connor were doing when this track was made.
Then, five tracks into the band’s album, we finally hear a GUITAR!! On tour, Paper Hearts was that song everyone got their phone lights on and swayed, and it’s refreshing to finally hear some instruments. It’s a really nice song and actually sounds like something we’d find one one of the other two of their albums.
Shades On was my favourite at the album showcase, and I prefer it live to the studio version. I’m just not keen on how it had been produced (the random sounds Brad makes in the bridge just don’t make much sense to me) but the chorus reminds me how fun it was to dance to on tour.
Following Shades On is It’s A Lie, which has some Spanish vibes to it and I actually really like it. It’s not electronic, but features the fifth artist on the album, Tini, which again, it’s The Vamps album, why do we need so many extra people on the tracks??
The final three songs on the album are my favourites. Beginning with Stay, a lovely acoustic track, not over produced and great lyrics. My Place, which was actually produced by Brad, Tristan and Connor would sit well with the likes of Cheater on their second album Wake Up, and it’s The Vamps doing what they do best. The last song is called Sad Song, and it’s anything but ‘sad’ as the title may suggest. The swearing makes me a little sad as I’ve always liked how The Vamps never needed to swear in their songs, but it is a good ending to the album and so catchy.
I do own the fan bundle from their website which came with Connor, James and Tristan editions to the album – four disks in total, which has the last two songs of the album different and they are exclusive songs to their versions.
Connor’s version is probably my favourite, his song On My Way may just be my favourite song of the whole thing. It’s a really feel good song and I wish Connor’s vocals got to feature more on the actual album. His also came with a ‘rock version‘ of Middle Of The Night which I love because it’s Middle Of The Night but with guitars instead of the electronic sound.
James’ version comes with two acoustic sounding tracks, I Love Loving You and Higher. Higher is my favourite of the two, I really like the lyrics. Tristan’s version I am less keen on, his two exclusive tracks don’t resemble The Vamps’ sound in the slightest and I can’t see myself listening to it much.
Don’t get me wrong, The Vamps are one of my favourite bands and I can’t recommend enough seeing them live. But why try to fit in with the rest of the chart when being yourself is far better? It’s a decent album, but hasn’t quite beaten their previous two for me. There are some stand out tracks, such as Stay and My Place, but I wish they would return to their indie-pop sound I loved. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
