Review Summary: What Separates Déjà Vu
I’ve always quite liked ADTR. A perfectly ordinary band who’ll never extend themselves outside of their musical boundaries. Each album cruises through the same old procedure that makes the listening experience hard to love or hate. No surprises, nothing new. It’s just well, tolerable.
The album opens with one of the heavier songs on the release and showcases the first noticeable change; the screaming and breakdowns have been severely narrowed down. The outcome? Refreshing. For so long now have each and every one of their songs been plagued with the ‘Scream, Sing, Scream, Sing’ regime and it got old about halfway through For Those Who Have a Heart. This hasn’t completely gone but I think at some point, as a band, they realised that writing choruses with hooks was their strongest and most defining feature; this decision was definitely for the better. It’s revitalising to hear Jeremy McKinnon’s decent singing voice for the entirety of a track rather than it being interspersed with his uncomfortable screams.
However, this is the only change that’s worth referencing. The 9 songs left on the album are crafted (without revelation) in a rinse and repeat format. There’s no attempt to try anything new which makes each song sound like the last. In all we’re left with a catchy but ultimately divided collection of songs that all have their own individual qualities but never complement each other. This is where the main issue lies. I listened to the album and looked back on the experience. Sure, it was enjoyable at times but there were no provocative moments that made me feel something. The album doesn’t work as a whole and simply staggers along at the same momentum; drop a catchy chorus here, splash a heavy interlude there and that’s it really; another day at the A Day to Remember office.
It’s time to stop expecting this band will improve or change: They’re far too comfortable for that. It’s a matter of knowing and understanding they’ll continue writing crowd-pleasing songs that are accessible and appealing. They’ll always be ‘baby’s first heavy band’ and they fill that role quite aptly.
What Separates Me From You is just another A Day To Remember CD. It doesn’t subtract or add anything new; it’s merely a continuation of everything they’ve done before.
Prepare for the expected.
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