Velocity Records
Release Date: August 25th 2023
Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre
Concrete Castles – Brand New Me (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Immortal
- Kill The Lights
- Disappear (Like Magic)
- Smile
- So Addicted
- Jealousy
- Running From The Daylight
- Dollhouse
- Where Are You Now?
- Lucky
- You Won’t See Me Again
I wrote this quote above as part of my introduction to my review of Concrete Castles’s first debut album. That was in late 2021, and ever since then, my appreciation of them have just become more and more. Primarily through listening to First to Eleven rock covers on youtube, I’ve become much more excited and anticipating of both Concrete Castles and First to Eleven material, namely because they are one of Youtube’s most captivating and heartfelt bands that occupy that digital space. I reviewed Wish I Missed U in 2021, and in it, highlighted songs like ‘Porcelain’, ‘Just a Friend’, ‘Thrill’ and ‘Mess’ as some standouts and highlights from this indie-rock trio. While not just a rocking powerhouse outfit (though it very much helps), this aesthetically pleasing band also have had something to say with their music- ‘Just a Friend’ is from the perspective of someone in a relationship that is questioning and skeptical of the other person in it, and how this persona wants to ask the other if the person they’re talking to, are more than friends or not; while ‘Porcelain’ speaks of this issue of standing up for what you believe in, and not being afraid to be cast against stereotypes, to break through the assumptions people make about you and to hopefully prove people wrong if they assume that you are like porcelain, both in a physical and mental sense.
‘Thrill’, a song recorded back in 2018, alludes to the title of the band ‘Concrete Castles’, and speaks of the urgency we ought to have, in terms of doing what we love and knowing full well that we don’t want to wait until we are incapable, to start doing something we know we are passionate about and want to contribute our time, talent and treasure towards; while ‘Mess’, the album ender to Wish I Missed U, is a look at the reality of a broken relationship, and the cause of it- which is something that people generally in society have to address, sooner or later. Because people generally have baggage, even a series of partners and failed relationships; when two people come together to form a relationship bond, they’re bringing with them all the unsaid expectations and assumptions along with them. So, if someone has a ‘one that got away’ person in their past, the current relationship and that person won’t ever live up to a certain idealistic (and maybe even unattainable) standard, and when you place something on someone that you know deep down that they can’t even reach, that is when they walk away. And we become shocked when our relationships fail. ‘Mess’ chronicles a relationship at its worst; and highlights the things we need to do to change it all- don’t have expectations of a partner to reach the standards of a previous one. Easier said than done, this song ought to be one to reflect upon, multiple times, as maybe in our own lives, we’re placing expectations on people that we don’t even place on ourselves- for to always live in someone else’s shadow can really create a sense of mistrust and distrust in any relationship someone has, going forward.
Concrete Castles unveiled their 6-song Reimagined EP in early 2022, that featured re-recorded laid-back versions of ‘Thrill’, ‘Mess’, ‘Porcelain’, ‘Half Awake’ and ‘Just a Friend’, and a remix version of ‘Wish I Missed U’- that EP showcased some different and unique interpretations of already powerful and prolific songs from their debut. Now fast-forward around another year, to October 2023, and we see the trio deliver their sophomore album of all-original material- Brand New Me is an album full of 11 high energy songs that are just as heartfelt and enthusiastic as their songs from their debut album. While a tad shorter in album length compared to their debut, what it lacks in terms of song length it makes up for in intensity and anthemic ‘grittiness’, as Audra Miller, Sam Gilman and Matt Yost deliver one of the most enjoyable and emotive hard rock albums I’ve heard in 2023 thus far.
Concrete Castles released Wish I Missed U back in 2021, and as two years have since past between the band’s first album of original written songs, and their second album; we see a level of maturity and articulateness that only comes with time as Audra, Matt and Ryan create one of the year’s most left-field rock albums of the year thus far. What the band has undertaken (with regards to the release of this album prior to album release date) is this- they’ve released their album in parts- a song every month or so, the band released the songs in reverse order. As Brand New Me stands at 11 tracks, what the band did was release track #11 (as a single and corresponding music/lyric video) all those months ago, then track #10, #09, #08 and so on and so forth. Dunno if that is an ingenious way to go about things, but nevertheless, by the time that ‘Immortal’, track #1, came around, the album released (at the end of August 2023). The result? 11 songs, each running for about 2 and a half minutes, each musically and distinctly different, and each having an underlying commentary and metaphor that we as listeners ought to pay attention to, especially in today’s culture where there’s plenty of ‘voices’ vying for our attention. Concrete Castles and their album attempts to be another voice, with these 11 songs being a must-listen, especially if you’ve been a fan of the band in the past, or a fan of other similar-styled artists, like First to Eleven (their cover band), OneRepublic, Switchfoot and Ava Max, to name a few.
Starting off the album with track #1, ‘Immortal’ begins the album with Audra discussing a failed relationship, from the eyes of the person who was doing the leaving, as compared to the one who was left. She sets the scene first up with lyrics saying that ‘…we exceeded expectations…’ but then in the same verse, she laments the fact that ‘…you always pull me in like I’m a moth stuck to your flame, why did I try to stay?…’ Relationships are hard and complex, and yes, sometimes to everyone else, two people shouldn’t be in a relationship, and everyone knows except for them. They last a while, longer than everyone else thought they could, and at the end of the day, you find out that the relationships itself was toxic and that there was gaslighting- on both sides. ‘Immortal’ tends to capture that sentiment, further expanding this theme in the chorus with the lamentful words of how ‘…you wouldn’t change if I was immortal…’, meaning that even if I was living forever, you couldn’t (and wouldn’t) change even if you had all that time on your hands to even try to be capable…that’s sad, isn’t it? That when you’re in a relationship, you are blinded and think that the other person is healthy and good and you are thriving, but then when you take a step back, you realise that you were making excuses and allowances for them, all along? That if given they chance, they wouldn’t change for you, regardless?
Throughout the rest of the album, we see Audra and co. deliver great rock anthems full of hope and encouragement, but also songs that are based in reality and compelling, even if they are a little ‘dark’. ‘Kill The Lights’ speaks about someone in a spirilling circle, not wanting to go outside for whatever reason, feeling as though they have suicidal tendencies and wanting to be alone in the house because…they want to try to do the deed? They can’t relate socially even if they wanted to? ‘Disappear (Like Magic)’ also relates to a failed relationship, where the persona find themselves crumbling to the ground, with the other person who was in their relationship previously, no where to be found. As if they have disappeared, and are now leaving the persona to pick up the pieces, ‘Disappear (Like Magic)’ takes things a step further- the persona longs for the person to disappear from their mind also, feeling as if they’ll be consumed by this particular ex, to the point where they can’t function on a day to day basis. ‘Smile’ takes heartache, breakup and separation and showcases a very unfortunate outlook, as the persona states a ‘threat’ to the person on the other side of the breakup, that ‘…you can see the crazy in my eyes, I could bury you alive, you can see what’s right behind my smile…’ Not being able to take a breakup well, the ‘crazed’ persona in the song warns the other person to ‘…run and hide, you gon’ see what’s right behind my smile…’ Maybe, this song can hopefully allow us to be wary about our own relationships, as we check to see if our significant others are as ‘unhinged’ as the persona in this song? ‘So Addicted’ speaks about the difficulties and troubles of being in a toxic relationship and something that you can’t get out of, even though you know you want to- likening a situation like a failed relationship, to that of someone dependant on drugs and them feeling as though they are caught into this life cycle of difficulties and damage, so much so that they are addicted to the cycle, without wondering why.
The second half of the album is much more musically lively, and compelling- ‘Jealousy’ is a song about just that- being jealous about someone else’s life; and realising that you’re going down a spiral and coveting what you know you don’t have, and believe that you should. We all become envious about people around us at some point or another, and ‘Jealousy’ attempts to wrestle and makes sense of why we succumb to jealousy at points in our life, and how to combat such an emotion that can often lead to not-so-desirable outcomes. ‘Running From the Daylight’ speaks about how we as people want to sit in our own darkness and sin, as we try to ‘run from the daylight’, knowing full well that the light will indeed expose the darkness in our souls as we try to hide and deceive others, stating that we’re ‘fine’ when in fact there’s this thing inside of us that is eating us away- we don’t want it, and ‘Running From the Daylight’ is a way for us to acknowledge and understand, that the shining rays of daylight always bring light and awareness on the darkness, everytime. ‘Dollhouse’, track #8, speaks about a failed relationships where the persona feels responsible for what has been created in terms of the other persona in the failed relationship, and that though they try to seek reason and see through ‘…your dollouse point of view…’ (a simplistic view of the way life works, where a dollhouse viewpoint is childlike and simplistic in every sense of the word), they ultimately can’t, while ‘Where Are You Now’ speaks about a failed relationship that happens via circumstances rather than intentional decision making, about someone who has absconded and the persona is left to wonder why, even asking the question ‘where are you now’ (not that an answer would be even sufficient). The album is then rounded out with ‘Lucky’ and ‘You Won’t See Me Again’- the former is semi-autobiographical song about the band Concrete Castles, and how they established their fame and the ‘luck’ that happened to them along the way, while the latter is an expose about university and college life, and how the reality is that some people’s main aim in their university time is to get a girl/boy friend, rather than just focusing on studies and anything else. ‘You Won’t See Me Again’ states this very fact, that ‘…you won’t see me again…’, that I won’t be a part of whatever game you are playing in trying to pick up people to date, when you really should be doing anything else.
Concrete Castles have created an album so compelling and powerful, and such that the album itself is ‘under-the-radar’ and ‘out-of-left-field’, something that I would’ve never thought I would’ve enjoyed as much as I did…and I did. The themes and undertones present on these 11 songs are raw, honest, emotive and compelling- much more honest and real than a lot of CCM albums released at the moment. Not to say that albums from artists like Jeremy Camp and Newsboys are insincere, not at all. It’s just that I’ve felt that Brand New Me (similarly with Wish I Missed U) felt a little more genuine, raw and honest, than a lot of albums placed through the filter of ‘Christian’ this year- maybe it’s because albums that are faith based have this added pressure to be presented in a hopeful manner, and thereby what is normally created is an album full of vague spiritual accomplishments, and never really delving deeper past a surface level to expose and explore feelings, vulnerabilities, emotions and poignancy that can be found (in droves) in a mainstream album? Maybe I’m surmising too much, but since I’ve taken the leap and explored a lot of mainstream music over the past few years, I’ve found a fair chuck of CCM to be not as compelling as it could be- and seeing a lot of vulnerability in music outside of the church. Nevertheless, as much as I love artists like Newsboys and Jeremy Camp, Concrete Castles’ sophomore project is emotive and powerful, heartbreaking, and possibly hopeful at the same time. A gem of an album to listen to, this is a must, if you love similar artists like Imagine Dragons, Ava Max, OneRepublic, Switchfoot and Dido. Well done Audra and co. for this uniquely crafted project. Hoping and praying that God uses this album in the upcoming weeks and months ahead!
3 songs to listen to: Dollhouse, Jealousy, So Addicted
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: First to Eleven, Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic, Ava Max, Dido, Switchfoot