Sound of Melodies
Posted March 26, 2008
By thirdsaint,
It's hard for me to compare Leeland to any other band. They seem to take some bits and pieces here and there of bands, but I really don't own anything quite like this. The lead singer, Leeland Mooring, has a very strong and passionate voice that seems to be a mix of Thom Yorke, Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World), and maybe even Fyfe Dangerfield from the Guillemots. His voice is really what carries this band as he uses it very well to create vocal hooks as well as to just send chills down your back. The amazing thing is this frontman is only 18 years old and writes lyrics and music with a great maturity for his young age. The style of music has bits of progressive elements but really it's just an elaborate and deeper type of pop/rock. Leeland have some great string arrangements to help set the mood of songs and they sure know how to build a climax. There's definitely not a specific formula being used here in terms of song structure. 'Tears of the Saints' is a good example of this with it's 6+ minute flurry of climaxes, passionate vocals, and piano notes. It's personally my favorite track and it'd be a hit on the radio if people can get past its length. To be honest it doesn't feel 6 minutes long so that's a good thing.
Then you have some pop tracks that can get your foot tapping like 'Lift Your Eyes' and 'Can't Stop'. The latter has vocals that remind me of the Foo Fighters and 'Hey' is a very upbeat track that screams Guillemots. It also has a sweet piano solo that I can't get enough of, probably because it's perfectly timed and comes out of no where. 'Beautiful Lord' and 'Carried to the Table' are the most blatant worship songs though most all of them pretty much are perfect for worship. The lyrics are very bold here and make it obvious they are Christian. Because of that they are very easy for fellow Christians to relate to and be uplifted with and I'd assume others wouldn't enjoy it no matter how mature the lyrics are. This CD in general doesn't have heavy riffs so much as beautiful arrangements and hooks to glue the listener to the headphones and boy does it work. Sound of Melodies is one of the more unique Christian CD's I've come across and I see a lot of potential in this young group.
Gems of this album are: 'Tears of the Saints', 'Yes You Have', 'Carried to the Table'
Overall - 9.0/10 View All Music And Book Reviews By thirdsaint | View thirdsaint's Profile
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