With All Time Low’s sixth studio released album, Future Hearts has been a success so far since it’s release on April 3, 2015. Accomplishing No. 2 on the UK Rock Chart and No. 24 on the US Hot Rock Songs with their lead single, Something’s Gotta Give, commercial performance in the UK was spectacular. Debuting at No. 1 in the UK Album Charts on April 12, selling 19,400 copies in the first week, making Future Hearts All Time Low’s first ever UK Top Number 1 Album. In the US, Billboard has listed Future Hearts in the Top Album Sales category of this week, Billboard also chart highlighted All Time Low as a “hot shot debut”.
All Time Low’s Future Hearts album art
The first single released off Future Hearts was Something’s Gotta Give, sent out to the public on January 12th, the song opens with a guitar riff that continues throughout the background of the verses until the big release in the chorus, where the full band is featured, after the chorus, the repeating guitar riff comes back, with “oohs” in the pre-chorus building up to the actual chorus. The song is full of All Time Low’s classic self depreciating lyrics, with verses like “don’t even know myself, I wish I could be someone else, but I don’t have a clue at all” and “Maybe I’m a fucking waste filling up the empty space , I’ve been here way too long” the song sends a message that the main character of the story is feeling really low, feeling like they aren’t worth anything at all. The chorus breaks out into a desperate plea for help saying “Oh Wake me up ‘Say enough is enough’ I’m dying to live Something’s gotta give / Oh Pull me out Of this sinking town I’m dying to live Something’s gotta give.”Â
gif by Sarah @ http://knowhope.co.vu/
All Time Low has always been one to come up with fantastic lyrical stories through their songs, stories that have shown to really touch base with their predominately teen fanbase. We all can relate to feeling lost and alone, not worth anything, desperately hoping for someone to wake us up and say enough is enough. Lead singer, Alex Gaskarth’s vocals are rough and “yell-y” throughout the choruses and bridge, really taking home that dire need for someone to help pull them out of their depression.
gif by Kanika @ http://darkeyeddreamerrrr.tumblr.com/
 The second single released off the Future Hearts album on March 9, was Kids in the Dark. This song also focuses on being alone, being a kid left in the dark through whatever alienating situation it may be. The song itself is upbeat and very rock oriented. With a quick, simple intro, angry driving guitars and a drum beat that pumps you up, you can almost forget that the lyrics themselves are pretty heavy with meaning. The music video really helps push the lyrics meaning, if anyone was confused by the song. It features a young girl tired of her parents fighting, she receives a note from the “kids in the dark” asking her to come escape with them. The young girl enters what seems to be a rave setting with black light and paint where everyone there accepts her and helps her break out of her sadness and into having fun, showing that no matter how alone you feel there will always be people there to cheer you up.
Future Hearts album package ft collectable poloroid photos / picture taken by Gabriela @ http://likewedid.co.vu/
Throughout the album, it does feature a lot of post production, no doubt due to the musical stylings of producer John Feldmann. Different reviews from fans and magazines alike say that while the album is okay overall, the overproduction in some of the songs is overkill. Writer, Branan Ranjanathan, of Exclaim! goes to say in his review of Future Hearts “the unashamedly formulaic nature of most of these songs, and the saturation of pop-production clichés such as the “woah-ohs” that seem to appear in every other track along with other gimmicky, overused techniques make this album tedious at times. Throughout the album, there are brief moments where the band let loose, and their ability to write far punchier songs becomes apparent, but many tracks on this album — especially towards the second half — are overproduced to the point that even the highlights are overshadowed.” [X]
In a Rock Sound interview, lead singer, Alex Gaskarth, talks briefly about Future Heart’s new sound, “It feels like a definite progression. I wouldn’t say it’s an insane departure or anything like that. We haven’t gone completely the other way and tried all kinds of new things. We’ve certainly tried some new things, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to alienate anyone or push people away that loved the last record.” [X] Despite what the critics are saying, most fans of All Time Low have embraced the band’s new direction, it will be interesting to see where All Time Low takes this new sound and what they’ll do with it in future albums to come.
Niana Gutierrez
Listen to the full album below
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