Evermore is the latest act from New Zealand to be claimed as Australian. They’re not the first and they won’t be the last. Real Life is targeted to a different listener than that of Dreams – they seem to be looking for sales. While the genre is best described as pop/rock, it’s mostly pop. They’ve found what works for them, and are sticking to it. It certainly doesn’t sound bad – far from it. It just sounds a bit manufactured or over-produced.
The album opens with "Real Life", the title track. It serves as an introduction to the album, and a bit of a taste of what’s to come. It certainly doesn’t stand out as an excellent track; it seems strange to name the album after it.
This is followed by "Running", the single release off this album. It is the perfect track for pop radio, as demonstrated by all the local stations. It does have a good tune, and a catchy sound, but the music is far from genius. It doesn’t compare to their original album.
The next track of note is "Unbreakable". It sounds good; however, the lyrics seem to go down hill from this point. Evermore seem to be singing to teenage girls on this album. It descends into a blur of love songs with no respite for the majority of the album.
A quick overview of the track titles will indicate what the second half of the album will deliver –- "My Guiding Light", "The Only One I See", and "Goodnight is Not the End" to name a few. They are all about the same thing and all sound the same fairly quickly. Clichéd phrases run free - When I found you I found me is just one of them.
Sadly, Evermore is on the way out with their second album. I’m sure a lot of work went into it, but it just isn't appealing. After the success of Dreams, they clearly thought they could copy the hits from it for the same effect.
They have been compared to Coldplay, and while parts of their music sound similar, it doesn’t have the breadth of sound that Coldplay delivers. This CD was a bit disappointing; I had expected a lot more.
Article comments
1 - Jack
I hope you enjoyed my first review! If you want more, you know where to go...
2 - Mayu
Hi, just a guess but I think the album was probably named Real Life to contrast with the previous, being Dreams. As these are opposites. Yeah.
3 - mg
I have found that the more I listened to this album the better it got. That's why you shouldn't take reviews too seriously. Some points valid but most very short sighted in my view. Actually these guy's are ten times better live than any album they will ever put out.