Album Review: Walking On Cars – Everything This Way
2 min read
If you’ve never heard of band Walking On Cars, you should probably start paying attention. Hailing from the tiny Irish village of Dingle, the band’s star is definitely on the rise: they were the first ones to knock Justin Bieber’s Purpose off the Irish charts after 12 weeks at number one. Last year alone, they sold out Dublin’s Olympia theatre three times over. It’s been four years since their debut single Catch Me If You Can was released, and the follow-up album doesn’t disappoint.
Everything This Way is a collection of a dozen songs, each fairly similar in tone, content and structure. With that being said, it’s also far from pedestrian. Fans of Coldplay or Snow Patrol will find something familiar in the lamentory lyrics and bombastic, hook-driven choruses. The music is powerful and dramatic, making sweeping use of synths, clean guitar riffs and some powerful vocals care of lead singer Patrick Sheehy. There’s also a very obvious penchant for delicate piano intros, executed beautifully by classically trained pianist Sorcha Durham.
Subject matter never strays far from issues of love and loss, from balladic moments like Always Be With You to the more upbeat Two Stones. However the album is by no means docile: the punchy chorus of opener Catch Me If You Can, or crowd pleaser Ship Goes Down, prove that the band definitely have energy to give.
Ultimately the album is catchy enough to warrant a second listening. At times the music feels a little bit generic, but the songs are well-executed and the production crisp. For fans of emotional indie-pop, this album will come as a gift.
