Album Review: Viola Beach – Viola Beach
2 min read
The story of the British indie pop-rock group Viola Beach is one of the most poignant to come out of the music world. Viola Beach’s four young members; Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin, and their manager Craig Tarry lost their lives in a car accident in Sweden after playing a festival in February 2016. They were heading for success in the music world, they were on the cusp of it, but it all ended in such a tragic way.
The self-titled album, Viola Beach, was compiled by the band members’ families who wanted to honour the hard work that they put into their music. They used studio recordings and live sessions to make up the 9 tracks of this album. It is futile for me to allocate a star rating to this album, even though I believe that this album is a successful one, because it is not necessarily the exact final product the band wanted to release as their debut album. The purpose of the album is to commemorate the talent of Viola Beach.
The tracks presented on Viola Beach capture a time in life where you could be young, full of hope, open and in love. It is a joyful album! Their music is so relatable and pleasantly familiar in the subject matter they cover and their sound (which includes a light sprinkling of Kings Of Leon and Vampire Weekend). Swings And Waterslides embodies these ideals, and includes a fun play of call and response which I’m certain would do well with live crowds. Viola Beach wrote engaging choruses, as in their tracks Like A Fool and Go Outside, which are irresistible to those who are partial to sing-a-longs.
Their album demonstrates their competence and range; writing a solid, wailing guitar rock track, Drunk; showing their more sensitive side in the slower track Call You Up; and grooving in more danceable tracks like Really Wanna Call and Get To Dancing. The album ends appropriately with Boys That Sing, saying “…together we can take on the world…together we can do anything”. And that’s how the album makes me feel.
