Music Review: Daughtry – Break The Spell

Daughtry is back with their latest studio album, Break The Spell. The album was released on November 21, which happens to be five years to the day that they released their self-titled record, back in 2006.

The band (Chris Daughtry, Josh Steely, Brian Craddock, and Josh Paul) made a conscience decision to go into studio without preconceived notions about what was going to result from the writing sessions.

“We said, ‘Let’s just write and see what happens,'” lead singer Chris Daughtry said in the band’s press release. “We came up with some pretty interesting tunes that sound nothing like anything we’ve done before. Even though some of them didn’t make the album, the process stretched us and took us to new places. It was an absolutely inspirational experience.”

Working with producer Howard Benson, who also produced the band’s first two albums, Daughtry co-wrote the entire album with his fellow band mates, as well as collaborating with Marti Frederiksen, Busbee, and Brett James. It was Benson who encouraged the band to think outside of the box with their new tunes.

“Howard called me and said he had some ideas for what we needed to do to differentiate this album. He said, ‘I really think we need to push ourselves,'” Daughtry shared in the band’s bio.

And push themselves, they did. Break The Spell is harder rock music mixed in with Daughtry’s classic sound that the core fan base has grown accustomed to over the years.

The in-your-face track “Renegade” leads off the album with high energy guitar riffs and Chris Daughtry’s intense vocals. This is a side to the band that I felt was starting to show itself on their last album, 2009’s Leave This Town, but now has fully come to fruition. Roaring on, the guitar-laden “Outta My Head” is bold step in a rockin’ direction. The gritty rocker contains one of the catchiest choruses on the album and is sure to get the audience moving at live shows.

Lead single “Crawling Back to You” is innately Daughtry, being a booming, anthem-like sing-a-long. The song is already proving to be a bona fide hit, currently sitting at #10 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart as of press time.

Other standout tracks on Break The Spell include “Losing My Mind” and “Rescue Me.”

Chris Daughtry is in great voice throughout this album, best illustrated in moments like the chorus of “Losing My Mind.” He goes up slightly into his falsetto range for the first “You’ve got me losing my mind,” which has a nice tone to it. It’s nice to hear the softer, more emotional quality to his voice. Overall, the song really shows off the voice that people were introduced to during his time on American Idol.

“Rescue Me” is yet another standout for me, because the arrangement starts out very stripped down for a Daughtry album. The song shows a lot of versatility on the band’s part. I really felt like the album kept me on my toes with this track.

Daughtry has proved that they can take a chance, grow as a band, and show musical progression without alienating longtime listeners, all while managing to put out their best album to date.

Break The Spell is available now. For more information on Daughtry, check out their official website.

Photo courtesy of RCA Music Group.