See Through Blue
Scarlet Rebels are quickly becoming one of the hottest bands that the UK has to offer. Their debut album Show Your Colours was a masterpiece, in my review I commented ‘They have managed to create something that some far more successful bands, that have been around for years have not achieved, a perfect offering.’ So, the follow up, ‘See Through Blue’ has big shoes to fill.
The album opens with a fist pumping, energetic ‘rebel yell’ with a relentless guitar riff. ‘I’m Alive’ is a great album opener that grabs you from the very start. A song, written by frontman Wayne, this song is an anthem for everyone that doesn’t want that 9-5 job. It’s for those that want more out of life than the mundane and this song inspires you to grab life by the balls, and go and live it!
Not letting their foot off the gas, ‘Storm’ follows. I love that guitar solo, the track drops right down mid way through, before absolutely melting your face with an epic solo that transitions into the chorus once again. Brilliant! Contrasting ‘Storm’, ‘London Story’, musically has a slightly different feeling to the rest of the album. It feels more punctuated and jagged. It really makes you sit up and listen to this Romeo and Juliet tale, with a twist. I especially love Wayne’s lyrical phrasing on this one, what a great songwriter.
These Days is really catchy, the intro reminded me little of a Wayward Sons song, but as the verse kicks in, the Rebels signature sound is back. A song very much rooted in these very strange days we’re experiencing at the moment. This is a song that attacks everything that is wrong with the UK and World politics, which upon listening to it in 2022, bears even more relevance with the recent revelations at Number 10! An absolutely brilliant song.
One of the heaviest songs on the album is ‘I Can’t Say’, opening with a chugging guitar riff, this is going to sound truly epic live. High energy, stadium anthemic rock at it’s best. The lyrics tell a different story and are a huge contrast to the sound of the song, An individual struggling with their own demons and possibly feeling very alone and yet holding on to the image of the one he loves, like I said a stark contrast to the upbeat ‘feel’ of the song!
‘Leave a Light On’ is not just my album highlight, but I would argue, the best song Scarlet Rebels have written to date. Opening with an acoustic, the song builds and is up there with the great rock ballads of all time. It’s pensive, rhythmically, it’s brilliant and takes you a little by surprise with its phrasing, quite often starting on the second beat of the bar and Wayne’s voice is stunning on this, it just gets you!
The title track brings the album to a close, again musically it was very interesting, the song uses some strange chords to create a feeling of uneasiness for the listener which doesn’t resolve, miuch like the subject matter! A very political song that doesn’t hold back, Scarlet Rebels have well and truly shown their colours with this one!
I said in my review of their first album that I was very much looking forward to seeing what else they had up their sleeves. This is the ‘what else’! This album feels more mature, the band have developed musically and are exploring deeper musical ideas which is great. I think this album says a lot about the state of the world at the moment and is calling on it’s audience to do their own little bit to help try and fix things. I still haven’t seen Scarlet Rebels live and that is something that has to change this year and I really look forward to seeing some of the new songs incorporated into their live sets.
Released on: Earache Records
Release Date: 28th January 2022
