The Album:

After everything that With Confidence has gone through as a band, everyone was hoping that they would come together and create a hell of a comeback, and that’s exactly what they did. When looking at the album at its core, the record gives the audience the peppy, catchy, hook filled selections that will stick in the minds of the listeners upon their first listen. This works well for the band because it brings their audience back to previous releases from the band while giving them a slightly refined sound. As they do this, they give the audience a collection of songs that would simply become bops to their listeners because of their easy-to-learn nature. As the band moves within this realm, they also give the audience a softer side by providing several tracks that take a lighter approach by utilizing softer timbres such as acoustic guitar and an overall lighter orchestration. This allows the band to drive home the different themes of their album through their fluctuation of musical contrast. Moving to the instrumental aspect of the record, With Confidence pays close attention to their balance and blend, which allows them to have their characteristic high volume contrast. This gives the audience that animated sound that resonates across several musical audiences, which will help the album appeal to the masses. As the band allows for higher and lower moments, this permits the instrumentalists to grind in on their parts a little more than normal; meaning, on this album, the band members present their instrumental parts with a bit of a punch. This helps to enhance the contrast between their animated style, their new, aggressive vocal moments, and their sets of strategic silence, which helps to make the entire idea pop. Overall, I am giving this album a 4 out of 5 stars. This album gets this score because each song on the record perfectly fits within the idea that drives the concept behind it all; also, the album itself just sounds perfectly them, which helps to enforce the unique nature of the record as a whole.

 

Top Tracks:

“That Something”, “Icarus”, and “Bruise”

These tracks standout because each of them bring a strong sense of the original sound that brought With Confidence to the popularity that they have today. As they utilize this familiar foundation, each track trails off then to give the audience the new With Confidence that is going to take the world by storm. Each of these selections give the audience the opportunity to connect with the more emotional driven side of With Confidence while they are still receiving that overly energetic sound.

 

The Artwork:

When first looking at the album cover several thoughts may pass through one’s mind. The only thing present on the album is: three staged roses, pastel colors, and the title of the record. Looking at just that, it is interesting that when looking at the album from left to right, it shows the rose coming to life, and since the title of the record is “Love and Loathing” many would assume the progression would be reversed. Additionally, the use of pastel colors for the album doesn’t scream a significant influence to the album just at a glance, but it does draw audience members in, for it makes the cover more visually appealing. Next, let’s look at the music and see how well the two mesh together. When adding the music to the mix, the band, throughout their album, gives the audience a conceptual picture that goes back and forth between “love” and “loathing”, so since the album cover also includes shadows behind each rose, one can sit confidently on that fight of duality. Additionally, the overall sound of the album resonates in a more chipper light, so it is no surprise that the band switched their aesthetic to a more pastel spectrum, which is greatly enforced by the colors presented on the cover of the record. This album cover doesn’t scream innovation or originality, but it does emphasize the it of “Love and Loathing” quite well, and that’s all it truthfully needs to do.

*”Love and Loathing” was released on August 10, 2018 through Hopeless Records.