Feel - Sleeping With Sirens (Album Review)
Feel is the third full length album from the quintet (kind of) of Orlando natives Sleeping with Sirens. The album was released June 4, 2013 under Rise Records and peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Rock & Independent album charts. The five member band dropped down to four members in mid-October when guitarist Jesse Lawson departed to spend more time with his family and pursue new musical ventures. Lawson was involved with the recording of the album, however. The first track shares a name with the album, ‘Feel’, and almost calming, melodic tune with some electronic undertones; compared to a majority of the other songs on the album. It’s a song that could potentially put you to sleep, in a good way. ‘Here We Go’ pumps things up with front man Kellin Quinn kicking things off with a ‘here we go!’ It’s a toe tapper that turns quickly into a body mover with quick drum kicks by drummer Gabe Barham. Song three ‘Free Now’ is one of the deepest tracks on Feel, telling of Quinn’s parents and how he doesn’t want to be like them when it comes to raising his new daughter; he wants to be the best father he can be for her. This is a very real fear of all new parents, whether they had a troubled life or not. Just by writing this song, it’s easy to tell he’s a wonderful father. ‘Alone’ is the fourth song on the album which features rapper Machine Gun Kelly (aka MGK). It was the second single released off the album released May 21, 2013. Quinn attempts (whether intentionally or not) rapping on his verses, however MGK kills his verse. ‘I’ll Take you There’ also has special guest vocals as Shayley Bourget of Dayshell joins Quinn. The song lyrically, some could say is the cliché ‘I’ll always be here for you’ song, as the chorus is ‘Even if there’s nowhere left to go I’ll take you there I’ll take you there. And if it ever feels like there is nowhere left to turn I’ll take you there. Always be there’. It’s one of the songs on the album that fall under the ‘just okay’ category. The sixth track ‘The Best There Ever Was’ is yet another song that features guest vocals. This time Quinn is joined by Chris ‘Fronz’ Fronzak of deathcore band Attila. It’s a driving song with thrashing instrumentals throughout. The message of the entire song cold be viewed as cocky with lyrics like ‘fuck with us, we’re the best there ever was’. The song in its entirety will get you up and moving, if you aren’t already by this point in the album. ‘Low’ is song seven on Feel and was the very first single to be released off of the album on April 23, 2013. Along with it being the first single it is also the only “official” lyric video off the album. Lyric videos themselves seem to be a growing trend with not only the artists on Rise, but in general. It seems as though the song is speaking to a significant other, with lines such as ‘you make me feel low’, ‘tell me why did it take me 26 years to figure out how to love’, ‘when I said it was over I meant it, but now I can’t let you go’. Now, who the song is about isn’t clear, but whoever it is, the speaker of the song misses them. ‘Congratulations’ is another grinding track and is the last on the album to feature any more guest singers; Matty Mullins of Memphis May Fire joins Quinn on this track. The entire song is cynical, and calling out an undisclosed band or bands, or that’s how it seems. At first it doesn’t seem that way, until ‘We’re so sick of all this so-called shitty music that you play. So could you please do us a favor? Stay the fuck out of our way’. Whoever it is that they’re calling out better take their advice, since it’s obvious that SWS isn’t going anywhere, like Quinn said “We’re always moving towards bigger and better things.” Song nine ‘Déjà vu’ is a personal favorite of mine, I could tell you why, but I think the lyrics explain it best ‘You know I love to get the sheets messed up. Put your hands on my chest because it might get rough. Don’t stop me baby ‘til you’ve had enough’. If you’re that thick skulled, or that innocent, it’s all about doing the dew, bumpin’ uglies, the sex if you will. That’s it, that’s the song. Can you imagine his daughter’s face when she hears this when she’s a teenager? ‘These Things I’ve Done’ seems to be based on the same tone as ‘Déjà vu’. Though the line ‘I can’t afford the kind of love you sell…you got your spell on me’. Now, just reading through, it sounds like the speaker in the song seems to have a very nice lady friend… ‘every time I start to tell you no, then you go and take off all your clothes’…a very nice lady friend, ah prostitute or stripper? We can’t tell for certain, but ‘These Things I’ve Done’ is an appropriate title. ‘Sorry’ a simple title for the most emotional track on the album, which makes the title Feel mean a little bit more. The speaker is apologizing to someone, it could be interpreted as a significant other, or even a friend or parent ‘I’m sorry for the man I was and how I treated you…I’ll do anything just to make this right’, pure, raw emotion right there. If this song doesn’t make you either tear up or think of someone you wronged, you need to reevaluate your life. ‘Satellites’ is the final song on the album, and it closes everything out quite nicely, it almost brings a full circle back to the sound of ‘Feel’; with the calmer tone, again something that you could listen to get yourself to sleep at night, but that’s not always a bad thing.
Rating-4/5: I didn’t expect to like this album nearly as much as I did. In all honesty I hadn’t listened to SWS until I was given the word to review this, so I had spent my day listening to the entire SWS discography. It is a change from their past albums, that’s for sure; this year seems to be the year for that. Change isn’t bad my any means, bands mature and grow all the time. This, at least to me was a wonderful change, and it wasn’t even that drastic of a change. Yes some of the songs are softer, slower, but the contrast between those songs and the rest works and makes the album flow. If you haven’t heard it yet, you should definitely go & listen to it & buy it on iTunes! www.swsstore.net
