Floodlove – “Floodlove” EP Review
Posted: by Colin
STREAM THE ALBUM WHILE YOU READ!
Putting aside the hardships and turmoil The Dangerous Summer experienced during their time, the band’s undeniable talent and ability to write heartfelt, robust pop-rock songs with delicate, lingering chords allowed them to shine in a genre that badly needed innovation. With the group now defunct, former guitarist Cody Payne finds himself engulfed in Floodlove. Wasting no time, Payne has released an 8 song, 30 minute, debut self-titled EP just a couple months after the project’s start. With good reason, as the EP is a fresh, progressive attempt on alternative indie-pop, a genre badly in need of creativity.
Instances of Floodlove’s ambition are discovered throughout the album. While certain attempts are careless and forgetful, the moments when Floodlove achieves success are wildly impressive. Take for example, the EP’s two best songs, “Long Goodbye” and “Echo”. Both follow similar paths stylistically and lyrically. Delicate percussion and the occasional hint of synth are glazed over mellow, simmering guitar-work and melancholy-filled, ringing vocals inducing a meditative state, perfect for any late night drive.
Although a few tracks fall short of the standard set by the two tracks mentioned above, it’s not to say that they lack substance or thought. The closing track, “Time To Come Home”, is it a bit plain, but seems like an intentional response to the opener “Long Goodbye”. In doing so, it features the album’s most potent lyrical jabs “And we fall and we rise, and we laugh ‘till we cry and we love ‘till we die, and we wait for the light to come on, we’re on the same side”.
To say the least, the debut EP is a very encouraging effort from Payne. Every song has the framework and synergy to be delightful and pleasantly satisfying, enough so to appease even the harshest indie-pop critics. While it’s not a perfect release, the climatic sparks and hooks throughout a majority of the album lead one to assume that Payne is on the verge of significantly shifting a genre that can (at points) be overwhelmingly stale. With more experience, and a bit of fine-tuning, Floodlove has the potential to craft an alternative radio smash hit not far from Airborne Toxic Event’s ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ or Grouplove’s ‘Tongue Tied’, and that’s the exciting part.
7.8/10
– Colin
