Relationships are not perfect. They have their high and low moments. The Summer Set’s album, “Everything’s Fine,” has arrived and is an emotional roller coaster filled with the joy and pain of falling in love.
“Everything’s Fine” displays the evolution of the band from one of their first albums “…In Color,” on which the band made use of significant auto-tune. Many of the songs on their latest album share the same titles as songs by Adele, Katy Perry and The Killers and, like these artists, The Summer Set has catchy lyrics that many can relate to.
The first song, “About a Girl,” sets up the central theme of the album. The Summer Set’s last record, “Love Like This,” featured a song called “Chelsea,” which was the name of a girl lead singer Brian Dales dated in the past. “About a Girl” could possibly be about her since Dale mentions the song is about a girl he wrote about before.
The soft ballad sounds like it would blend in well in a Nicholas Sparks movie during an emotional scene of a girl running to a boy. Dales’ voice starts off low and later rises and becomes full of emotion.
The opening chords of “When We Were Young” sound similar to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” The song is about being young and falling in love for the first time. With lyrics like “We were cool listening to Zeppelin / Making out on the stairway to heaven,” the song is fit for a John Hughes film like “The Breakfast Club.”
“Must Be the Music” puts the listener in a mood to party with its upbeat guitar tune and fun lyrics. Another fun song is “Thick as Thieves.” The use of a ukulele and group vocals makes this song, about carefree love, one of the catchiest on the album. The lyrics and reggae sounds make the listener want to hit the beach or just have a good time with friends.
The Summer Set changes the mood of the album with “Mannequin.” Dales’ voice urges his female love interest to hear his pleas that he cares for her. He warns the girl that her current lover does not care for her, but rather just wants to dress her up in fancy clothes and show her off like a doll. The sincerity of the song is magnified when Dales starts screaming the lyrics.
“Mona Lisa” changes the mood of the album again with the help of an acoustic guitar. It is a heartfelt recollection of wonders of the world not matching up to the love of a certain girl. The use of just the acoustic guitar adds a sweet touch to the lyrics “I’d steal the Mona Lisa / But I know I wouldn’t keep her / Because I wake up next to you every day.”
The album ends with songs that channel two conflicting emotions. “Love to You” is about remaining friends with a past love. It resembles Jack Johnson’s musical style and features the ukulele again. “Don’t Let Me Go,” on the other hand, is an expression of intense emotions about feeling alone in a room full of old friends. The song builds up in volume with drums and guitar and leaves the listener with group vocals singing “Is it gone, gone, will it ever come back?”
“Everything’s Fine” is quirky, fun, carefree and sometimes sad. Many of the songs are similar in the sense of having appealing lyrics that keep the listener hooked. Overall, The Summer Set has presented an album with a mix of songs relevant for any aspect of a relationship.
““ Brittany Taylor
Email Taylor at [email protected].