Review Summary: Review 7 of 7: Finally catching a grip and turning everything around, Sway is a needed breath of fresh air for the first time in five years
It’s been dark times for Blue October, two releases that were exceptionally subpar for various reasons, it seemed like any further down the road they were heading and it would mark the bands end. Justin seemed to finally, for the first time in a long while, catch a grip on reality before it was too late.
Sway is a major breath of fresh air to say the least, Justin Furstenfeld has realized something in the two years that bridged AMIA with this release. Whatever it was is beyond us, though it has greatly helped the band regain their touch.
The most comforting thing about the album is Justin has mellowed up in his own way, realizing his anger wasn’t a healthy motivation for his music. Or that lashing out in every song will lead anywhere. It’s the closest Justin has gone to Justin in a long time, lyrically he has matured up and admitted to his mistakes.
The album’s selling point is the lyrics, for me at least. As Justin remisints on love without ever feeling too pushy like before, they’re level headed and down to earth, even when the album tries to be gritty and edgy it works out in the end.
Sway calls back to Foiled in terms of production, different styles and genres through each song. It’s comforting to hear their older style in the album, as AMIA and Approaching Normal both ditched it for their darker tones. The production throughout is just as solid as ever of course, every song never really lacking the punch or kick it’s needing or falling flat.
Multiple genres are explored again, anywhere from Rock to Electronic you’ll find it here. “Bleed Out” having a very catchy electronic bassline and “Light You Up” having a Hip-Hop style structure. The two drabble in the Electronic genre for a comfortable amount of time and are interesting to check out.
“Fear” deals with soft instrumentals to set a mellow tone. Justin discusses how his anger made him afraid of who he became and how it swallowed him up. Though it’s possible to get back up and face life in the face and move on.
As for the album’s closers “Not Broken Anymore” and “To Be” are easily two of the most heartbreaking closers in the Blue October discography. “Not Broken Anymore” is a heartbreaking song of Justin crying out about how confused he’s supposed to be. Is he supposed to let his love go or hold on, is it worth the torment he keeps putting himself through or not. It’s a shocking song, allowing us to view deep into Justin’s mentality once before.
It’s the down to earth lyrics that put the album in full effect, being able to link and relate to Justin on such a close level for the first time since Approaching Normal. Its a level headed spin for the band and a great one at that. On “To Be” Ryan takes full front with the album, taking his musicianship to the fullest closing off the album with a very calming and breathtaking ending to the album.
The album does suffer from one major drawback though, the band plays this album way too safe. Never bothering to step out of their comfort zone in any of the songs, they rely too heavily on the same tropes of Foiled in order to get their music out there. Most of the songs on this album rub off as generic radio rock, mainly due, like said, because of the band playing it safe with the album.
Overall Sway is a good release from the band. Having a fair share of very good stand out tracks while the rest may suffer from the band holding back it’s definitely worth a listen for the average listener and worth owning for any fan of the band. Almost 15 years together, here’s to Blue October. Let’s hope that Justin can get through his problems safely and the band will only continue to go up from this point.
Recommended Tracks:
Sway
Angels In Everything
Bleed Out
Fear
Not Broken Anymore
