The Maine
Halloween Forever
Reviewed by Lexi Bissonnette
The Maine is back with their fourth album, Forever Halloween, produced by Brendan Benson. The album holds on to their rock band roots but also has an eclectic mix of sounds that would entertain listeners of all types- from rock to alternative.
Forever Halloween is a wonderful surprise to listen through it’s tracks. From ‘Take What You Can Carry’ through to the title song, ‘Forever Halloween’, the tracks are a delightful surprise. The songs are lyric heavy but it never seemed to pull the songs down. Pat Kirch on drums and Jared Monaco on guitar create a great beat in each and every song that had me happily tapping along. The mixture of strong rock songs and more alternative based sounds like , “Love and Drugs” was a great surprise while listening. Each track has a distinct sound which is a pleasure in an age when many songs on an album carry the same sound as the track prior.
Perhaps the real treat was John O’Callaghan’s vocals. His voice had a beautiful dark and soulful sound in ‘Take What You Can Carry’ which easily made it the light on the album for me. The transition from the dark sounds to light and airy, almost effortless seeming vocals, in songs like ‘Birthday in Los Angeles’ was wonderful.
Forever Halloween is the band’s second self funded release and will be released in America by Eighty One Twenty Three and by Rude Records in Europe, the UK, Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan. Catching up with them live is possible on their US tour where they are headlining and performing with A Rocket to the Moon, This Century and Brighten from June to July.
Rating: Badass
