All Time Low Returns with “Future Hearts”

Pop-punk band All Time Low released their sixth full-length album on April 7. On April 19, “Future Hearts” was the weekly best-selling album on Billboard.com. The 13 tracks lean slightly more toward the pop, radio-hungry side of modern music, but the sounds are still comfortably familiar to those which blared through our own middle school bedrooms.

The four-man band from Baltimore has grown tremendously since the release of their first album in 2003. Their recent release displays their maturity, but also shows a change in gears. The band sounds more advanced in both voice and instrumentals.  Fortunately for long-time ATL enthusiasts, their music seems to have been strengthened, rather than dwindling into the repetitive sounds we hear from newer boy bands like One Direction and 5SOS. Fans are highly impressed with Future Hearts and thankful that after the downfall of “Dirty Work” (2011), “Don’t Panic” (2012) was not a fluke. Listeners may frequently identify ATL’s signature catchy melodies, which have made many of their songs so recognizable. Some would complain that this particular album lacks unique, quality emotion as it continues the common theme of teen love and life.

Lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth justified the band’s three-year silence by telling Entertainment Weekly that “it made more sense to let a story to develop.” The band feels as if they have found a “musical place that works for them” and now “know exactly how to do All Time Low.” It appears as if “Future Hearts” is sending the band full-speed into a brand new chapter of fame and music production.

The first few tracks of “Future Hearts” continue an upbeat pattern, but surprisingly for ATL, some of the songs take a slower pace. The band picks back up with track 13, “Old Scars/Future Hearts,” which holds a consistently quicker speed.

“Future Hearts” also pleased pop-punk fanatics with special vocals from Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden. This chart-topping album has a nearly perfect combination of old-school ATL, fist pumping ballads, and modern pop. The band is touring across the world through August, with sold out shows in Spain and multiple U.S. cities.

Featured image from Wikipedia.