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Snow Patrol – The Fireside Sessions EP

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Snow Patrol - The Fireside Sessions

Snow Patrol - The Fireside Sessions
4.2

Rating

 4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Five handmade, very atmospheric tracks
  • Cool songwriting process
  • Charity EP

Snow Patrol are back in the (virtual) record stores. The Scottish-Northern Irish band recorded a couple of songs during the lockdown – and finally selected five of them for The Fireside Sessions. The EP is supporting a charity, all profits will be processed to the Trussell Trust Charity in order to fight poverty. A fun fact: the songs have been written during Instagram live sessions, which the band held any Sunday in an eleven week period. The sessions were called Saturday Songwrite, which has also been reflected in the EP cover. The Fireside Sessions will be released on 21st August 2020.

 

Snow Patrol – About The Artists

Snow Patrol are a rock / alternative rock band, which has been originally formed in Dundee, Scotland, out of Scottish and Northern Irish members. Only Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar) is a permanent member of the band since its beginning in 1994, the current band line-up includes Jonny Quinn (drums), Nathan Conolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (bass, backing vocals) and Jonny McDaid (piano, guitar, backing vocals). Snow Patrol has been formed as a student band at the University of Dundee, the original band name was Shrug, under which name they even released a debut EP, The Yogurt vs. Yogurt Debate in 1995. Since 1997, they are using the name Snow Patrol. After two albums with limited success in 1998 and 2001, the band released Final Straw in 2003, which topped the Irish charts and went up to the third spot in the UK. A key song of this album was Run, which went up to the fifth spot in the British singles charts. Another big hit was Chasing Cars (2006), which has 240 million views on YouTube only.

Since then, the band had a lot of success. The following album, Eyes Open (2006), already topped UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and made it to the Top 10 in multiple markets. The record has been an eight time Platinum one in the UK and seven times in Ireland. Between their 2011 album Fallen Empires and their latest album release Wildness, the band had a seven year intermission. After two EPs in 2019, The Fireside Sessions is the tenth EP by Snow Patrol. It is available by digital download only.

 

Snow Patrol – The Fireside Sessions – Track by Track

The five track EP The Fireside Sessions lasts 19 minutes.

1. Reaching Out To You

Reaching Out To You has been released before the EP, some sort of appetizer. The track is very catchy, it feels quite a lot like Brit Pop sounds to me. Very atmospheric 3:30 minutes.

2. On The Edge Of All This

With a stronger role of the acoustic guitars, On The Edge Of All This feels more like a handmade track, has even maybe more of that lockdown feeling. Very present chorus which is even having a choir-alike ending in the interlude. Great song.

3. The Curve Of Earth

The Curve Of Earth feels a bit more similar at the beginning, but thereafter, the song creates a very broad, mystical atmosphere, which perfectly fits to Lightbody’s voice. I guess that fans of him and the band will love that track. Cool sound, indeed.

4. Dance With Me

The fourth track of the EP, Dance With Me, definitely has a groove and melody, but it is definitely not a dancefloor or headbanging song. Snow Patrol stay thoughtful and intimate in this EP also during this track. Simple, straight, but great songs. Well done.

5. Light Years

The EP concludes with its longest track, Light Years. The only track exceeding four minutes is having a slightly more dominant rhythm – the drums are definitely the dominating background sound here. I – again – love when the backing vocals support the lead. Gives a lot of power.

 

Snow Patrol – The Fireside Sessions – Spotify

Here is the Spotify widget to the EP:

Snow Patrol – The Fireside Sessions – My View

With the writing sessions and the EP, Snow Patrol gave a lovely present to their fans. Yeah, you might say that it is a bit on the too intimate, too saucy side and you lack electric guitars, rock and power – but I do love the Fireside Sessions view on Snow Patrol. Especially the backed up voice parts show their great vocal talents and the songs just open a direct channel, create a great atmosphere. Very nicely done – I would definitely like to have some more Saturday songwriting with the band!

 

 

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