thu 28/03/2024

CD: The Script - Sunsets & Full Moons | reviews, news & interviews

CD: The Script - Sunsets & Full Moons

CD: The Script - Sunsets & Full Moons

Bombastic, saccharine-soaked vulnerability-pop from Irish superstar band

Candied kisses

Massively successful Irish trio The Script could, loosely speaking, be called a rock band. But they aren’t really, are they? Their sixth album is an indictment of the kind of music they play.

It’s packed with over-produced post-Coldplay anthem-pop featuring lyrics calibrated for a generation gnawed by social media anxiety.  Listening to it is an edgeless, squeaky clean experience. The buzz, if there is one, is all sugar rush and no sharp edges. Who could have known a quarter century ago that a key genetic ancestor of 21st century “rock” would be the Benidorm-friendly Euro-cheese of Haddaway, Dr Alban and the like.

Future generations will listen to this and wonder, “Did young people really need their music to offer such relentless and crassly stated emotional support?” For there’s little poetry here, no sense of humour, no wit or nuance. Instead, Sunsets & Full Moons offers gigantic, empty, stomping, self-empowerment batons that whack the listener over the head until they feel better, while waterboarding them in EDM-tinted slushies.

“How can you love if you don’t love yourself?” asks one song (as well as adding, “Every night is the dawn of a new day/You don’t lose if you learn from your mistakes”). This is just the tip of a vast iceberg of triteness. One song is even called “Hurt People Hurt People”. And all of it is delivered in that breathy quiver which, post-Ed Sheeran, is keeping pace with falsetto voice-breaking as the default setting for “vulnerability”.

The Script are massive, their albums huge, and there’s no reason to think this one will be any different. It was created in response to deep upset in singer Danny O’Donoghue’s life, apparently, which this review in no way seeks to belittle. However, as a half hour listening experience it feels like a trip to a giant, garishly lit shopping mall.

Below: Watch the video for "The Last Time" by The Script

Offers gigantic, empty, stomping, self-empowerment batons that whack the listener over the head until they feel better

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Editor Rating: 
1
Average: 1 (1 vote)

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Comments

From what I've seen your reviews shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt.

Love love love love this album all the lads sound amazing! So much love for the lads and the new album can relate so much too it

I have got a feeling that alot of people are going to disagree with the rubbish you have written. But of course, you're entitled to your opinion. But it doesnt speak for the majority

Your last paragraph speaks volumes about your character. I think the album is incredible. I lost my grandpa this year and it’s been the most difficulf year of my life for so many reasons. I found this album HEALING. You don’t have to like these guys. But at least acknowledge they are trying to make the world better. And maybe try the same yourself?

The album is wonderful. I think it does everything Music is supposed to do by telling real, raw stories and giving fans something to connect to emotionally. I think it was wonderfully delivered and has helped me heal in an incredible year!

Review written by a man who wears a cowboy hat! Back in the barn you go and enjoy your line dancing!

I have been a fan of The Script since 2008 and have seen them live about 5 times. However I really expected something a bit more groundbreaking this time around. Unfortunately it is far from different. In fact all of these songs could have been interspersed throughout their back catalogue and would have fitted in "nicely". Its a pleasant listen but so many of the songs have too many similarities of previous tracks. Yes its their trademark sound but sometimes it would be good to be a little braver. Overall opinion is it is slightly boring

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