Review Summary: Served best with a sinking feeling on a long sleepless night.
Allow me to preface this review with a warning: this EP is sad. I mean sad…like the kind of sadness that is so brooding that it becomes inevitably relatable. Coincidentally, the genius of Only Boundaries lies in that fact.
“I gave up long ago” is the first line of Balance & Composure’s sophomore EP, and in being the first line it perfectly foreshadows the lyrical content of what’s to come. Lyrically, the music is intelligent in its use of metaphors to portray the loose theme of lost love. There are also some really exceptional lyrics such as those in “What’s Wrong With Everything”:
You call yourself a cowboy,
But you just can’t let things go.
You sold your soul to a woman
Who left you for her heavenly home.
However, Balance & Composure is a band in which the whole song is far greater than the sum of its parts. The strong lyrics coming together in unison with the eruption at the end of a slow burning section of build up can send shivers down your spine. Though there is nothing particularly groundbreaking or extravagant about Only Boundaries, the consistency and synergy throughout the EP works in the bands favor. It gives B&C their ‘edge’ and prevents the music from getting boring.
The first and last songs in Only Boundaries are the obvious highlight. Both lyrically and musically, these two songs are the strongest. That is not to say, however, that the remaining two songs are bad. They are solid and serve their purpose, but just do not live up to how strong the other songs are.
All in all, this short-and-sweet nugget of depression is well worth its eighteen minute run time. It’s an emotional ride similar to the experience of listening to Brand New for the first time. A must listen.
