All Time Low is by far one of my favourite current bands for more than one reason. First of all, they’re really easy to listen to and are catchy without being obnoxious. Secondly, their sound lies in between pop and something with a heavier sound (they’re technically classified as pop-punk), which suits my taste but is still more upbeat and appealing to a larger audience. ATL haven’t released a full album since 2012 so this release, Future Hearts, was much anticipated.
All Time Low never really strays too much with their sound so the fact that Future Hearts follows that pattern was expected, although I would have liked to see them experiment a little bit more. In fact, the album seems a bit like a cross between previous albums Nothing Personal and Don’t Panic! That said, it still offers fresh tracks that are enjoyable and that pretty much everyone can enjoy. It’s nice when bands experiment with their sound, but All Time Low is consistent and there is something to be said for that as well. Heck, they explore the same themes for the most part as well.
I can’t say that there’s any single track that stands out from the rest becau
se they all follow such a similar pattern. It’s all good, but nothing is particularly exceptional. That said, featuring Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 on the track Tidal Waves made it that much better. My favourite tracks off of the album are Dancing With A Wolf and Don’t You Go. Dancing With A Wolf has a different beat to it and stands out from the rest in that respect and Don’t You Go defines upbeat and is really easy to sing along. Overall, although slightly homogeneous in quality and even in sound for a lot of the time, Future Hearts packs a punch.
The biggest issue that I have with the album as a whole is that Satellite, the opening track, is slow and so vastly different from the rest of the album. It doesn’t seem to fit in quite right. I can see why it’s at the beginning, but it still doesn’t sit quite right with me and is by far the song I like the least.
Everything taken into account (Including the hilarious music video for Something’s Gotta Give which you can watch here), Future Hearts is a good album, not a great one, but is still worth a listen, especially if you’re not familiar with All Time Low’s previous works.
You can stream Future Hearts from Hopeless Records here.
