Love, conflict, heartbreak, forgiveness \u2013 these are ingredients that, when mixed together properly, make for great music. In H A R D L O V E<\/i>, the sixth studio album from Christian rockers Needtobreathe, the band draws on these themes and delivers perhaps their most personal album yet, a record that trades their characteristic joy for a more subdued intimacy. The result is a successful, more grown-up album from a successful, more grown-up band.<\/p>\n
Title track and lead single \u201cHard Love\u201d establishes from the get-go the more serious terrain Needtobreathe is charting in this album, with singer Bear Rinehart declaring over a crunchy beat, \u201cTrading punches with the heart of darkness \/ Going to blows with your fear incarnate \/ Never gone until it’s stripped away \/ A part of you has gotta die today.\u201d The song, largely spun out of problems in the band members\u2019 personal lives as well as their conflicts with one another, reaches a hopeful note in the winning chorus, where driving guitars match the message to \u201cGet back up, \u2018cause it\u2019s a hard love.\u201d Reflecting the album that bears its name, \u201cHard Love\u201d is an anthem of perseverance and forgiveness, a story that neither dismisses love\u2019s pain nor despairs over it.<\/p>\n
The theme carries over into \u201cMoney & Fame,\u201d which, over a brass riff that brings to mind the theme from Rocky, <\/i>condemns the titular markers of success: \u201cMoney and fame bring a man shame \/ Ain\u2019t no doubt about it.\u201d Drawing on personal experiences, Needtobreathe offers a warning to their audience that worldly success brings with it as many hazards as highlights. The triumphal music\u2019s contrast with the sermonic lyrics keep this song from being a bummer and ironically bring the message forward.<\/p>\n
Speaking of irony, \u201cHappiness\u201d uses the same strategy, this time with a gospel choir, to deliver a song about the difference between simple pleasures and true joy \u2013 which, in the song\u2019s story, can only come if there is forgiveness. Like \u201cMoney And Fame,\u201d this song is so upbeat and catchy that, until you listen to the lyrics, you don\u2019t recognize the darkness lurking under its surface. \u201cBe Here Long\u201d abandons the irony and subtlety, but not the album\u2019s themes, with a love song built on the fragility of life and relationships: \u201cOh, I’m swimming in the grief \/ And there’s no anchor that could hold me down \/ I don’t want any relief \/ ‘Cause I don’t wanna let you go right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those wanting a little less pensiveness in their rock music, Needtobreathe doesn\u2019t leave them high and dry. \u201cGreat Night\u201d is a straight party jam, with folk duo Shovels & Rope joining in on the fun. \u201cLet\u2019s Stay Home Tonight\u201d and \u201cNo Excuses\u201d are both standard ballads, perfect for the college freshman trying to woo his crush with an acoustic guitar. And for those who appreciate the album\u2019s wrestling with spiritual themes but want a more overt Christian message, \u201cTestify\u201d delivers the kind of Southern rock-infused anthem that put Needtobreathe on the map.<\/p>\n
H A R D L O V E <\/i>is the product of a band who has experienced pain and come through the other side better for it, a group of skilled musicians looking not just to make you dance, but to think. While not delving quite as deep as contemporaries like Switchfoot or Gungor, the effort is admirable, and the music as joyous as ever. It remains to be seen whether H A R D L O V E <\/i>will stand as a true departure from their roots or merely a detour for Needtobreathe \u2013 but either way, the album is a journey worth taking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":33655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10280],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-45477","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-needtobreathe","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/45477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=45477"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=45477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}