by; Kayleigh
Birmingham three-piece Blue Nation drift across all areas of their blues tinged, modern soul sound in their new thirteen track album ‘The Ordinary People’.
Powerful riffs and beautiful calmer moments are what ‘The Ordinary People’ is made up of. This is my first time hearing Blue Nation and it is clear that these guys have built a personal sound that is impossible to put into one specific genre. With only three of the thirteen tracks being previously unheard this album feels a little like a collection of sounds that have defined Blue Nations most recent era, and the three new ones just add a little icing to the cake.
‘Hand Me Down’ opens the album with this charged blues riff making me believe I was in for some heavy classic sounding rock song, but instead the gorgeous melodic vocals take command driving the song in a little bit of a calmer direction than what I had expected. This, however, does not mean that this song is a chilled-out piece, there’s plenty of grit and rock n’ roll to enjoy here.
With a sort of light love-story melody, ‘Every Single Time’ was the first track to really get me excited about ‘The Ordinary People’. If you take away the energetic rock guitars that sit in the background of this one, it would be easy to mistake that vocal melody as a pop song, and honestly it works so well. The chorus specifically where Blue Nation gives us a little bit of a punchy harmony makes this a song I want to go back and listen to again and again.
I have to say I am definitely more a fan of the melodic alt rock tracks on the album like ‘Time Is a Thief’ and ‘Old Friends’, ‘Time Is a Thief’ particularly really grabbed my attention, the whole song gave a sort of 2000’s rock vibe and is packed with emotion. ‘Old Friends’ on the other hand starts off with one of the most stunning moments on the album, as the guitars play under the stand-out vocals, I couldn’t get enough of how amazing the vocalist of Blue Nation is and these emotionally charged moments really allow their power to show.
Tracks like ‘Strangers’ or ‘The Reason’ are both doing something a little bit different to the rest of the album, both songs have so much energy behind them, but it also feels so controlled, like Blue Nation aren’t quite letting themselves fully give everything, but this isn’t a bad thing, it’s unique and there’s still so much there for listeners to consume. I just found it a little unusual that there’s these moments where I’m waiting for it to explode but instead the band would give a big riff but just as quickly pull the song back into their melodic soul sound.
The last three tracks on ‘The Ordinary People’ give listeners something new, and ‘Ordinary People’ has to be my favourite of the three, this is a very full sounding rock song which is packed with big positive and hopeful feelings, the drums sit in the back holding it together, while the guitars give this massive energy and the vocals deliver a catchy melody that’s sure to get people singing ‘we’re just the ordinary people’.
‘Worry’ and ‘Run Straight Ahead’ are the last taste of ‘The Ordinary People’, closer ‘Worry’ takes on a more acoustic approach whereas ‘Run Straight Ahead’ gives listeners something exciting to listen too, complete with a sitar this is a classic sounding rock song that’s catchy and intricate. I personally really enjoyed the bass line that fuels everything from the background before getting its own little moment to shine, which I feel is deserved. I can guarantee the chorus of this one will be stuck in my head for days and I just want to blast it in the car on a long drive.
Overall, Blue Nation have created an album that I think many people will enjoy and connect with. I like the way it feels like a collection of all the different sub-genres they are capable of dipping into while also keeping a sound that feels uniform, and there is no doubt when you hear them that each and every song is a Blue Nation song. For me, ‘The Ordinary People’ was quite different to the normal stuff I would listen to but as a whole I really liked this album.
3 out of 5
Tracklist
Hand Me Down
Every Single Time
I Feel Low
Time Is a Thief
Strangers
Old Friends
Echoes
The Reason
Once In My Life
Come Back Home
Ordinary People
Run Straight Ahead
Worry
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