Hey, team. You’ll have to forgive me for taking so long, life kinda went to hell and decided to stay there for a while. But this is completely irrelevant in the face of some music that is begging to be talked about. Let’s chat about OneRepublic’s sophomore effort, Waking Up.
The album opens with a count in and some light stripped down percussive elements before Ryan Tedder’s voice slides in under the radar with an almost ominous sounding piano line that builds pleasantly with a little bit of guitar and a dash of stuttering which is always a hardcore win in my book. Apparently all the love was made just for me, so hopefully the string line was as well. Layered vocals provide a nice round sound that isn’t overpowering but leaves you hoping it grows some.
The acoustics sound like they’re in a bathroom near the end, but it’s interesting enough. It bleeds into the next songs chorus with just a drum and shaker bit that could be really fun, but then they go and destroy this lovely build up with a hearkening back to the Stones and their boy choir. One thing we should all learn from music - don’t mimic one of the greatest bands on Earth, I don’t care how great you think it might turn out. Not nearly on par with Britney doing “I Can’t Get No,” but still.
“All the Right Moves” opens with a couple well-placed organ chords and a chorus that I personally think resonates kinda beautifully. It’s nothing complicated but it’ll get stuck in your head faster than you’d think. The strings become a theme throughout the album; sometimes they’re dead on and sometimes they miss but you definitely get the feel of what the band’s trying to convey.
The song has a longing quality that’s nice, but you get the idea after a few passes of the chorus. Nothing against the song, though, it’s one of my favorites on the album. I would be lying if I said I didn’t put it on repeat a couple times.
Following up this single is “Secrets,” another string filled playground. This particular track sounds like it wants to be a Beyonce song, which considering Mr. Tedder has written for her, makes a lot of sense. The same can be said for “Good Life,” a very middle of the road and radio friendly little tune with some tripping vocal patterns, but I’d rather hear it from the diva than an altern pop rock band.
An excellent save comes in the form of “Everybody Loves Me.” The opening alone makes you wanna dance with some acoustic guitar and tambourine. The chorus is obscenely easy to sing along to and vocally it sounds like it wants to be a blues song that’s yelling to be taken out for a joyride.
“Missing Persons 1 & 2” sends a wink and a smile out to U2. It could try to be a huge stadium song, but it falls a bit short with an almost juvenile feel at times. It takes a turn of the Radiohead variety in the middle where a chaotic mess becomes a more structured melody that has a serious Thom Yorke and almost out of body feeling that seriously hits how it’s meant to. This is a song that’d smile at you from across the room but it doesn’t want to come up and introduce itself.
Another serious U2 number is “Waking Up.” The guitar tones could have been borrowed straight from the Edge and nobody would be the wiser, but it’s layered over with a Killers feeling. We’re finally allowed to hear with Tedder’s voice can do, however. This man’s range is absolutely beautiful, it can do amazing things and should not be restrained in any way.
There’s not a lot going on lyrically, and the song bleeds into an instrumental bit that would be far better if Matthew Bellamy got his hands on it. It almost sounds like something a worship band would do while the pastor’s praying or doing an altar call so that’s interesting, but I don’t really like the headspace it puts you in, something feels off and awkward.
The intro for “Marchin On” is a dead ringer for a chilled down version of Bloc Party’s “This Modern Love” but then turns into something that is straight off of Coldplay’s latest album. Everything about it could be driving modern Brit-rock, yet it has a nondescript clapping pattern that Anberlin would be a fan of. Regardless, it’s a great song. I like it but I wouldn’t have guessed it was OneRepublic without the vocalist. Which is cool, it’s nice to switch things up, but I would have guessed it was someone else entirely.
The album closes with the pleasantly boring and ambient sounding “Lullaby.” The title fits, I’ll be prone to skipping it along with “All This Time” and “Fear.” All things considered, I think it’s a fine sophomore effort. It’s hard to follow up their first album, but somehow I think OneRepublic can get past the harsher criticism out there and come out with some really nice songs that we’ll be singing for years to come.
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