Straylight Run – The Needles, The Space

I can’t figure out what went wrong, but something has happened to Straylight Run. Their first few demos were mind-blowing; and their Self-Titled debut was able to maintain that momentum – but then they went all downhill from there. The EP, Prepare To Be Wrong, seemed forced and failed to carry on the power or raw emotion that John Nolan had in the debut. However, the songs on the EP did grow on the listeners as there was that base Straylight Run foundation still present. After the release of their EP they split with Victory Records and self funded a recording session. After searching for a new label they found a home at Universal Republic Records and the follow-up album, The Needles The Space, was finally released and to my surprised received very little notice. At first I was furious at the aspect of having to wait another 6 months before it was released in Canada, but a quick US order later and I had the album in my hand and after the first song I knew exactly why it had been pretty much completely over looked when it was released.

The problem is that The Needles The Space no longer has that base Straylight Run sound that originally captured so many ears. Instead of being piano driven music full of emotion and sincerity, The Needles The Space is predictable indie pop flobber. It is no longer built around soothing pianos melodies but rather built around a sparse guitar riff and intertwining vocal harmonies. The album sees the band trying to expand and being artsy by using a magnitude of instruments and styles. Sadly those, the instruments fail to work off one another and instead fall flat in the mix making for a repetitive and monotonous album – and one that gets way too quiet way too often. The only song that remotely resembles the Self-Titled style of writing is Buttoned Down which is still just built around a hollow acoustic guitar riff but is actually able to pull the listener in with the intertwining vocal harmonies between both singers.

Other than that, nothing on the album is captivating or innovative. Even the alternating vocal duties from John Nolan and his sister Michelle fail to grab you as it’s too consistent with one leading the way during one track and the other taking control the next track. The minute and a half un-listed and untitled instrumental should have just been left out and the only song that is really worthy of multiple plays – or that is memorable in anyway – is the Tegan and Saraish The Miracle That Never Came. The rest is forgettable.

Throughout the album there is just a constant lack of power and emotion and the album just feels flat. On top of that, the band continually tries to tackle subjects that they are unable to full contain. Singing about war and poverty and the balance between good and evil, life and death fails to have the allure that songs like It’s For The Best and Existentialism on Prom Night had. It seems to be following a trend instead of speaking from the heart; and the entire album comes through that way. Once again, this was an album I wanted to love and play over and over again; but as it is, it will be lucky to pull itself out of the case again. It’s predictable indie pop instead of powerful piano led emo; and to me, that’s just not Straylight Run.