Nashville-based, alternative rock band Darling Parade has long had a place of honor on my iPod and with the release of their new full-length album "Battle Scars and Broken Hearts" they're assured of staying there for a long time to come.
As one of many donors to their very successful Kickstarter campaign, I've actually had the new album for weeks now and after listening almost daily, I've got a few things to say:
This is an album with attitude, it's catchy and hooky (radio, are you listening?) but also equal parts heartbreaking ("When It's Over", "Ghost","With You") and defiant ("Just Another","Messin' With Me", "Bad Habit") it really lives up to the album title, and it showcases feelings that anyone who has gone through a messy breakup will be all too familiar with.
This album paints a picture of someone who has gone through a war of the heart and has emerged on the other side, bloodied but unbowed as the chorus for "Messin' With Me" states, "You should know that you're fighting for nothing, when deep down you're just looking for something, you keep giving me the third degree, but you don't stand a chance if you're messin' with me"
Even if you're not going through your own personal battle right now, you'll still find yourself sucked into the raw emotion of the music, and headbanging right along with the excellent guitar and drum work. This is an album to be played full blast with the windows down while cruising a lonely highway.
Oh, did I mention frontwoman Kristin Kearns' voice? As you go through the album her voice takes you from wanting to hold her and make the pain go away, to staying out of her way, to giving a high-five for emerging victorious. It's an emotional trip and one I'm happy to go on.
No, this isn't a happy album, but it's a very human, emotional album and that's all too rare these days.
Buy it. Now. [iTunes] [Amazon]
Please be sure to follow Darling Parade on Facebook and Twitter, and check out their official site.
