Album Review: Northbound – Soul Kiss

Jonathon Fraser, who has been known as Northbound since 2012, will be releasing his debut full length today, November 22nd, via Smartpunk Records. What originally started out as a solo acoustic endeavour has steadily grown into the full band project that has delivered “Soul Kiss“. From the opening chords of ‘Very Long List‘ it is immediately apparent that “Soul Kiss” is a pop punk album, everything on this ten track release that ticks all the expected boxes in a perfunctory and somewhat predictable manner. That is not to say that “Soul Kiss” is in anyway a bad album, if you are a lover of all the well known names on the pop punk scene, from The Front Bottoms and The Dangerous Summer to all the usual and well known suspects who you really don’t need me to list, then this will be an album that will slot perfectly into your collection.

Northbound‘s debut album is musically and lyrically impressive but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard it all before, “Soul Kiss” ebbs and flows, from it’s lively opener through to it’s heartfelt acoustic moments, ‘Tall Buildings‘ and ‘Betterment‘, and it’s triumphant closing track “Special‘. Fraser has gone on record stating this is an autobiographical album, yes it deals with struggles and existential battles but rather than being cathartic this feels like a release from someone who’s done fighting and is now at peace with himself, is exactly where he wants to be in the world and has released an album that reflects this state of mind. For some this will be an album that sounds like pop punk 101, but for those who love the genre this will be a positive and life affirming debut full length.

“Soul Kiss” can be purchased via Smartpunk Records here

Northbound‘s website can be found here