Walking On Cars, the four-piece rock band hailing from Dingle, Ireland has released their second album Colours. The album is the band’s followup to their 2016 debut, Everything This Way. Colours experiments with synth-rock to create a platform for their personal lyrics that explore a variety of topics including sobriety, holding on to the past, and of course, a few love songs. Prior to the release of the album, Walking On Cars has released a handful of singles that give a taste of what the rest of Colours brings to the table.
The lead single “Monster” opens the album with a bang. It’s the most rock leaning track but it captures Walking On Cars’ reflective and oftentimes literal lyrics, turning whatever demons are haunting the narrator into an actual monster. Though the metaphor is somewhat superficial, it’s a memorable first single that welcomed the band “back in town.”
With a community of backup vocals on the chorus, “Waiting On The Corner” will be one that fans look forward to singing along to at every live show. The track builds and drops smoothly throughout the 3:44 and its easy to find yourself hitting the repeat button once it reaches its conclusion.
Lead singer Patrick Sheehy describes his journey with sobriety in the personal track, “Coldest Water”; “Yeah I used to be like that. No, it’s not a long way back,” depicts the precarious nature of being one step away from the ledge when you’ve worked to hard to move forward. It’s an empowering song that captures Sheehy’s personal struggles while also delivering a melody that is misleadingly upbeat. “Coldest Water” also marks the first track on the album to fully embrace the synthesizers in the album.
“Somebody Else” continues that trend while telling the familiar tale of the one that got away with lyrics that concisely captures the feeling of regret. The verses do a decent job of setting the scene and describing a past love. The repeat of the title of the song in the chorus reads a little bit like trying to fill time and does little to add to the track.
“Two Straight Lines” is a monotonous proclamation of dedication. It reads like one of those books where things are definitely happening but by the time you reach the end of the story, you find yourself wondering, “did anything really happen?” Picking up the pace with “Too Emotional,” Walking On Cars delivers the track most likely to get stuck in your head. One of the most synth-heavy tracks on Colours, it’s definitely the most dance-friendly. Where “Monster” is the most rock leaning track, “Too Emotional” is on the other side of the spectrum— but both songs make sense within the same body of work.
Some of the most interesting tracks lyrically confront the demons of the past. “When We Were Kids” heightens the stakes of the album and is one of the best tracks. It ultimately captures the feeling of being lost in young adulthood and not knowing which direction to turn when everything seemed so simple before, even if the inspiration was potentially more visceral in nature. The closing track, “Pieces Of You” is a soft piano ballad once again reflecting on the missing presence of a loved one who has passed. It is one of the most honest on the album and serves as an excellent bookend to this chapter for Walking On Cars. The story-telling behind both of these tracks are definite stand-outs and serve as the high points on Colours.
Colours is a sonically cohesive body of work but lyrically tends to shy away from anything particularly ground-breaking. The tracks leaning toward romance tend to be a little uncreative but tracks where the lyricist confronts the past like “When We Were Kids” and “Pieces Of You” are worth another listen. Pulling from rock influences with a touch of synthesizers, Walking On Cars allowed themselves to indulge in stepping into two pools that don’t always blend. While Colours will definitely feel more at home on a rock based playlist, the album is a fun ride with a lot of heart.
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