Release date: November 2, 2018
Track Listing
1. Nervous Energy
2. Do Right
3. Not About You
4. 80 Miles
5. Neon Buzz
6. Sweetheart
7. Eyes Wide Shut
8. Porcelain
9. Drive
10. Better Love
11. Through To You
About The Album
Today we will be reviewing GLADES’ Greatest Hits. Just kidding. But, really though; it may as well be. Roughly half of the track list contains previously released, successful singles. The rest of the album comes as a surprise to fans because of the departure from the older, typical “GLADES sound,” which is a good thing in this case.
The new songs showcase the band’s maturity and growth as musicians and songwriters; listeners are treated to diverse ranges of musical styles, mixes of genres, and a variety of instruments. It’s not all electronic/alternative pop or synthesizer/dreamwave styles like their EP, but the songs feel catchier. If you dive into 80 Miles, Neon Buzz, and Sweetheart, you’ll get more of an uptempo, pop-rock feel, with constant beat-movement. If you jump to the end with Better Love and Through To You, you’ll be met with sort of a GLADES-infused style of sentimental ballads.
GLADES of course could not exclude their two biggest hits to date: Drive and Do Right; these two pretty much solidified their careers as music artists, so it makes sense to include them in their first full length album. And out of the songs “tested” live during their shows, the one that made it in was Porcelain!
Overall, it’s going to be difficult to be disappointed with this album. They took risks, and it paid off. This is a CD to be proud of.
Reflection
From the band:
“To Love You explores the idea that there’s more to love than pure romance. Not only romantic love; it explores different forms of love, such as loving the people around you, loving those who can’t express that they need love, as well as loving yourself. It maps the progression of a relationship from the first spark, to its complications, and resolves with the realisation that everyone needs love in all its different forms.”
The lyrics in each song draw a lot more emotion and imagery than the typical “I love you” or “I don’t love you” themes. Trust, experience, hope, relaxation, passion – the list can go on and on. GLADES has the ability to take one theme, subject, or feeling and expand so much while digging very deep. That is true poetry and lyricism. Neon Buzz, for example, is arguably an entire song about one kiss in the car. Nervous Energy focuses on unexplained, but generally relatable, relationship anxiety. While these may sound like oversimplified concepts, GLADES actually paints very strong pictures for audiences to appreciate and immerse themselves into often overlooked experiences and feelings.
The band also explores some general moral and psychological themes. Do Right, for example, is a reminder to just be nice to each other. It might seem like a very basic and perhaps unnecessary song, but how often do we see rudeness, hatred, discrimination, racism, bigotry, etc. in the world? Or take Eyes Wide Shut, where the message is for listeners to know their own self-worth and value as a person; people in relationships may lose themselves and forget who they are, so it’s good to be reminded that you deserve good. Both of these songs touch on the “love your neighbor” and “love yourself” ways of life and challenge us to imagine a different society where we all lived by these ideals.
All of the depth and analysis aside, this is a milestone for the band that cannot be overlooked. Besides the amount of work that went into all of this, they put their hearts and souls into each song. From the beginning, each member of GLADES committed themselves to something greater than their own selves. They didn’t just write about being vulnerable; they shared their vulnerable sides in their lyrics. They didn’t just talk about emotion; they opened their emotions up so that listeners could relate. They didn’t just mention love; they brought audiences with them to explore love together.
The result is a collection of songs about relational subjects that remain timeless. Speaking about the album release, Joey put it best when he concluded with, “This is what it’s like to love you.”
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