Bad Suns: Mystic Truth
review by Reese Gorman
The nostalgic 80’s summer sounding band is back with more. It had been over a year without new Bad Suns music, and three without an album, the hype and anticipation were high for their new album “Mystic Truth.”
The songs on this album consist of majorly upbeat songs with lyrics about falling in love. As much as I like this album, it was a bit of a letdown. Yes, the songs are pleasant to my ears, but it almost feels as if they didn’t change anything from their previous albums. Over a span of five years since their debut album, they have stuck to their same sound of indie-rock not taking any risks.
In some instances, I agree with this technique; when someone’s sound and lyrical style is unique solely to them, don’t change it. Take Panic at The Disco! for example, he’s stayed the same throughout his whole career, but nobody makes music like him, he’s one of a kind.
Even look at The 1975, the sound and music is theirs, you hear their music and you instantly know it’s The 1975. Even they took a risk though with their latest album release “A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships” and it worked, it got even more fans interested in their music and the risk paid off.
I would’ve loved to see Bad Suns do this. Now, I am in no way saying they had to completely change who they are and do a 180 but seeing a little bit of risk would have been nice.
Personally, as a music enthusiast, when bands come out with albums every couple of years, in which defines that bands current “era” per se, I want to see a distinct difference between the songs on each album. With Bad Suns, I cannot tell the songs on each album apart, they all seem the same.
Even amongst my disappointment, the album is good, there’s no question about that. The song has future hits in “Darkness Arrives (And Departs)” a rock bop that draws a distinct comparison, for me, to their hit song “Swimming In The Moonlight.”
“Hold Your Fire” and “Love By Mistake” attack the problem of falling in love accidently and not knowing what to do with that feeling. “Hold Your Fire” talks about falling in love and having to hold back this passion you feel for this person. “Love By Mistake” talks openly about falling in love with someone you didn’t intend to. Everyone has a point in their life when they fall hard for someone they had no intentions to. Love is not always a choice, hardly ever is it a choice to be more accurate, which is why so many people fall in love almost instantaneously it seems because of the quick recognition that you’re suddenly in love with this person. Christo addresses this topic greatly in “Love By Mistake.”
“Mystic Truth” is a safe album, that ultimately sums it up. It’s nothing special, nothing amazing solely nothing more than safe. It has good songs, but it doesn’t get me excited. I was on the edge of my seat when this album dropped and quickly was pushed to the back of it. I want an album that I can’t hit pause on, and this album does not do it.