Over the ten years they have been together, Lower Than Atlantis have been notorious for changing their sound. However, with the release of their fifth album, it seems they may have finally mastered it.
‘Safe In Sound’ sounds almost as though it could be a continuation of their last, self-titled album from 2014. ‘Lower Than Atlantis’ was a big success for the band, peaking at number 16 in the album chart, so it’s no surprise they wanted to produce a similar sounding LP. While this may please fans, and no doubt the record label, it does feel as though the album was made with less thought.
That being said, the album does feature a few gems. It is opened superbly with ‘Had Enough’ a punchy and somewhat heavy-hitting track with big riffs, and a sing-along chorus. Other standout tracks include ‘Dumb’, ‘Work For It’ and ‘I Would’, all bursting with the same kind of smart lyrics, and energy the band delivered so spectacularly with the last album.
The penultimate track, ‘I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore’ is a much stripped back, heart-felt offering that bears resemblance to ‘Another Sad Song’ from their second album ‘World Record’ from 2011.
Tracks like ‘Could Be Worse’, ‘Money’ and ‘A Night To Forget’ make for perfectly good pop songs, but are lacking the kind of character and imagination found flowing throughout each and every track of the last album.
With ‘Safe In Sound’ LTA seem to have done exactly that – play it safe in their sound. It’s almost as if they tried to stick to the exact same formula to replicate the last album. There are a good handful of tracks that are sure to go down a treat live, it’s just a real shame they weren’t just a little more adventurous.