Full Review: Nevertheless – In The Making
Nevertheless is a lesser known band, but you would never know it from the quality of their albums or the presence in which they carry themselves. Although their previous album was decent, in comparison this is a whole different band and one that is ready for a mainstream audience.
I actually had to go back and listen to the band’s last album, ‘Live Like We’re Alive’, just to make sure that this band used to be much more upbeat and I wasn’t thinking of someone else. Although there is a handful (small hand) of tracks that are at a faster paced tempo, most are very mellow.
I won’t beat a dead horse but I will mention quickly how much this band now reminds me of Relient K. When listening to their last album, the similarities were vague at best but upon listening to ‘In The Making’ the first song that comes on is “Sleeping In” and it might as well be a Relient K cover song with the intro piano and the lyrical melodies, it’s uncanny.
“Sleeping In” is one of the few “fast” songs, which doesn’t say much about the speed of the record but the song does do a good job of reintroducing the band and starting off the album. “It’s No Secret” is the first real glimpse of this new and reinvented band. The song feels held back and it sounds as if it wants to bust out of the acoustic cage that it’s being kept in. The lyrics do have a chance to make their way past the instruments so the listener can focus on them, so if that was the goal and idea behind the decision then it worked but if it wasn’t, then the song should have been brought up a notch or two.
The amount of songs that could be considered ballads on this record is an unusually high amount but the one which sticks out the most is “Augustine”. The song does an absolutely beautiful job of conveying emotion with a little help from the backing strings section. “Topics” follows up with an interesting track that talks about talking to our (universal sense of the word) children and being honest with them about the things they go through like dealing with drugs, sex, (rock ‘n roll) and the other issues kids go through. The song is also a slow, piano led song but unlike some of the other tracks nothing is really added to it, such as instruments or other vocals to change it’s dynamics.
I guess you could debate whether this band was ever really pop/punk, probably more of a pop/rock genre but nevertheless (can I use that word in this review?) the band has changed their direction and gone down a slower and more delicate path. My guess is the band picks up more fans than they lose.
Tags: in the making, music, nevertheless, relient k
