EP Review: Divided By Friday – ‘Modern Memoirs’
4 min read
Listening to the band Divided By Friday is like hearing a mixture of three other bands in one. Bands like Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and Maroon 5 obviously have had a strong influence on the band and it’s fantastic to see that they have developed a unique sound that they can call their own. Since the release of Modern Memoirs, comparing it to their last EP, Prove It, it’s evident that the band have focused on being more pop rather than punk. When a band is only starting off, you can truly empathise with the fact that in order to breakthrough into the music industry, you need to find some way where your music just stands out to all the listeners around the world. To be able to simply come up with something worthwhile to listen to is a difficult task to do but once it’s accomplished, nothing can get in the way of it. Not even music critics and haters because once that spark is found, that spark will motivate a band to keep making music that they are simply incredibly proud of. Modern Memoirs to date has been one of the best releases of the year because Divided By Friday are only getting to the stage where people are discovering the band and I can tell you now that coming across this EP would indeed be an excellent discovery for music lovers.
The EP comes off strong with the first tracks, You Fooled Me and Free Tonight. Some people can mistake Jose Villanueva’s voice for Patrick Stump because they do in fact sound quite similar to one another. It’s very inviting and refreshing for a band to be able to successfully use both piano and violin in their songs. They’ve been cleverly produced because not only do they have that different and unique sound everyone is looking for, but it’s clear that all sweat, blood and tears have gone into the tracks. The songs are quite dramatic and suspenseful and in a way, this makes it enticing for any listener as it keeps them on the edge of their seat in the most simplistic way.
Relapse is honestly the highlight of the EP. Once you hear that piano note played with the lyrics (‘I don’t wanna be somebody falling into relapse every time I see that smile again’), you will absolutely fall in love with the song. The music accompanies the track so well and the depth of the lyrics are intricate to the point where you actually feel the emotions conveyed from it. The storyline is heartbreaking because it’s about not being enough for the person you love that you need to end things with them (‘I just think of when you said, “I love you, but I don’t think I can be the one’).
Then comes Rhythm of the Room and it’s clear that Divided By Friday were experimenting with a little electronic music on this EP. The song incorporates electronic music in the most subtle way and it’s a strength I admire from Divided By Friday. To be able to make a song that doesn’t have overpowering electronic music poses as something difficult to do because if you compare it to bands like Breathe Carolina, they make electronic music that overpowers the vocals too much. Rhythm of the Room is the total opposite to this as the vocals are still intact, bringing that nice balance with the music used.
The track Better Off clearly continues the story of Relapse where you’re in the position of saying that what you feel for your significant other is something real and true. You would do anything to win this person back, emphasising the desperation and helplessness you feel without them. It’s a challenge to let go of something that means so much to you and this track perfectly describes this in a nutshell. It is another favourable track that is definitely a winner on Modern Memoirs.
The EP finishes off with Longer Than Forever and to be honest, it is the happiest track of Modern Memoirs. A happy love song is well and truly needed after a few emotional tracks and listeners are bound to embrace this song with welcoming arms. It just pinpoints the fact that love can start by simply saying ‘hello’ to someone.
Modern Memoirs definitely shows the peak of Divided By Friday’s music career. This EP is incredible and listeners can find that hearing it once is not enough. This EP has been the highlight of my music year and I’m looking forward to their other releases in the near future.
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::: Renowned For Sound Music Reviews ::: Jana is a 21-year old student currently based in Sydney, Australia. Writing for Renowned For Sound has given her the opportunity to take a break from her university degree and job by being able to write what she is most passionate about – music.
Since the day she got her first iPod and a broadband Internet connection, these two things have shaped her music taste till this present day.
With her love for pop punk, indie and alternative rock music, it’s no wonder she’s known to be that ‘go-to’ person when it came to finding incredible bands with amazing talent.
She believes that one of the best feelings in the world is to find a song that just clicks with you and from this day, she has never stopped believing in that.
