“Running Away” is the album’s opening single, and it’s everything the Spree do right in one song. It’s brimming with energy and excitement, with an anthemic sing along chorus. The song’s opening is a particular highlight, as energy builds during the short instrumental opening track to an immediate climax on the first verse. Due to their vast instrumentation, the Spree can hit a huge point immediately, and still have enough to build more throughout the song.
“Get Up and Go” is exemplary of the more rock direction they’ve taken this album. It’s structured around a guitar and drum riff, creating a kind of pounding rock march. This song reminds me a bit of Electric Light Orchestra, a band the Spree owe a debt of inspiration to.
“The Fragile Army” is structured like a suite, and it’s the song that gives the best spotlight to the full breadth of the band’s instrumentation. The song’s generally great, I love the opening and finale, with lush choral and instrumental arrangements building to a cathartic finale. However, the b section, where Tim sings about black notes and keyboards, has the kind of weak theatricality that the Spree sometimes falls into. It doesn’t kill the song, but it’s a bit goofy and takes you out of the moment.
“Younger Yesterday” starts as a fairly standard Spree songs, but ascends near the end during a triumphant horn breakdown. I love when they put the spotlight on the unconventional instruments and take advantage of what only they can do. This song also spotlights the choir, who add wonderful color and shading to the song. There’s a lot of fantastic piano work throughout the album, with the ascending and descending lines during this song’s finale a particular highlight.
“We Crawl” is a more subdued song, but the Spree’s choir turns the chorus into a majestic plea for some kind of understanding. To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to their lyrics, they’re usually some vaguely positive platitudes, that’s not what their music is about for me. Who cares what they’re saying when you can listen to something as dynamic as the breakdown of this song, which overlays sawing cellos and horns before the choir erupts with “On our way today!” They transform the song from one man’s lonely plea to a collective expression of joy and dreams.
Article comments