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Amber Run – The Search (Act 1) EP

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Amber Run - The Search (Act 1)

Amber Run - The Search (Act 1)
3.1

Rating

 3.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Talented band with a signature sound
  • Wide range of tracks

Flyctory.com Cons

  • No outstanding song
  • Just one new track

Fourth album by Amber Run: the English trio had quite a successful start in their career, including a platinum record in the USA. Will their new publication, The Search (Act 1), bring them back on the track to fame? Here is my view about their 10th September 2021 release.

 

Amber Run – About The Artists

Amber Run is a British indie-rock / indie-pop band from Nottingham. The three founding members are Joshua Keough, Tom Sperring and Will Jones, who already know each other from school. Nowadays, Henry Wyeth is part of the trio instead of Jones. Already on their fourth gig, they god scouted, which finally lead to a record deal and their first EP, Noah in 2014. The same year, they released two more EPs which Spark and Pilot. In 205, they had their debut album. 5am made it into the Top 40 of the British charts. The key song was I Found, which has already been released in 2014. It received a silver record in the UK and a platinum record in the USA. Thereafter, the success of the trio faded a bit. While their 2017 album For a Moment, I Was Lost still made it into the UK Top 50 charts, their most recent Philophobia (2019) did not come with any chart ranking.

 

Amber Run – The Search (Act 1) – Track by Track

The five track album lasts 17 minutes.

1. Big Boys

Let the big boys cry like a waterfall– this 1:57 minute track with piano sounds and a lot of background atmosphere is a mixture of an intro and a full song. More of an intro, though.

2. Ride

The harmonic-melodic touch of the intro is taken over into the first song of the EP, Ride. A dreaming-touch song with acoustic guitars, gentle vocals. The song is about four and a half minute long – the longer it takes, the more energetic it gets. Really enjoyable song.

3. I’m Tired

When Joe Keogh is almost whining I’m Tired into the microphone, this leads to a very special atmosphere of this track. Apart from that, the song is rather dominated by the electronic drumming and distortion of sounds, which feels to get more intense in some parts of the track. A bit too oppressive to me… But not a bad one.

4. Sweet Melancholy

If you do not count the Big Boys intro as a song, Sweet Melancholy is the only new song on Amber Run’s September 2021 EP. Again, Keough’s high voice has a very dramatic touch and turns the chorus into a very different mood than the rest of the song, which feels very melodic, but also rather quiet. The song has a nice touch. Won’t turn into an all-time classic, but definitely of the very top range of “pretty solid”.

5. 52 Blue

Oh no, take me higher
And guide me to where the sky still has a glow
And oh, let’s go higher
And help me to see the world below
As not hell on Earth but home

A bit too alternative, too concentrated to me. But Amber Run do have a nice style to play with different sounds and moods – they also include some of that in this song.

 

Amber Run – The Search (Act 1) – Spotify

Here is The Search (Act 1) on Spotify:

 

Amber Run – The Search (Act 1) – My View

The Search (Act 1) is a nice listen. Unfortunately not more, fortunately not less. You cannot deny the high level of talent of the musicians, but I am just not sufficiently fond with the final product to rate it higher. On top of that, this EP in fact just includes one new song – a bit too thin in my point of view.

 

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