Since their last release of Oak Island in November of 2013, us Our Last Night fans have been itching for a new full-length album, and we finally got it on June 16th, 2015. What I love about Younger Dreams (right off the bat) is the length of the album. With 11 songs, it has a lot more to offer than Oak Island's length (only 7 songs). One thing I love about Our Last Night is that their songs are always really meaningful and full of substance; they’re never just thrown together for the sake of writing a song. You can tell that a lot of thought goes into the production on the lyrical level and that they write each one with care, bringing awareness to various problems and ideas in our society. That was evident in their past songs “Age of Ignorance” and “Sunrise” (which they collaborated with “The Bully Project” organization).
Now, let’s talk details. Here’s a track-by-track breakdown.
1. The album opened with a really strong intro embodied in their song “Prisoners“. Not only did I think that it was a PERFECT song to start the album with, but I could see it being a really great intro to a live set (cough cough, Warped Tour, cough cough…). I can picture it now: the pulsating beat at the beginning plays and no one is on stage yet, and then, BAM. When the instrumental kicks in, we know the guys are coming out ready to party and ready to JAM. Who agrees?
2. The album progresses with “Road to the Throne“. Trevor’s vocals at the beginning grabs your attention right from the start and the “Whoa-oh-oh”‘s in the chorus are just begging for an audience-wide singalong, and the scream-filled bridge at 2:09 is just begging for some crowd surfing. It's obsessing. Bring. It. On.
3. Next up, “Home“. This was the first single they released from this album and was a perfect lead-in to what listeners could expect from them in the new release. Perfect taste of what was to come. The intro was a tiny bit reminiscent of an I See Stars’ intro, as well, which is cool considering they’re buds with the OLN guys as well.
4. My favorite song off this album is the fourth track, “White Tiger.” Lyrically, It's THE perfect love song. Very passionate and beautiful. “Everything I was looking for, like a wave crashing on my shore. Suddenly I couldn’t speak, it’s like an angel walked into me”. I have no words!
5. “A World Divided“. In a nutshell, very fitting for our society...especially with Trump and Clinton (*gags*). Listen closely and learn.
6. “Diamonds” is melodically a song for strength and hope, and I love every second of it. I’m obsessed with the way they wrote the instruments/music in this song. Honestly, I prefer the music video version on YouTube because Luke Holland (from The Word Alive) was featured as guest drummer, and the drum battle after the second chorus was amazing and intense.
7. “Living Now“. I can already picture them motioning for the crowd to wave their hands back and forth to this as they unite, put the past behind them, and live their lives the way they want. The drumming on this track gave me the chills.
8. “Younger Dreams“. Ah, the good ol’ title track. Often the first one people listen to for that reason. This song, to me anyways, is used to represent the album as a whole and set a tone for the new era of the band. This song lyrically begs to turn back time to when we were younger and dreams were so big and we were so innocent, careless, and alive. To have a “fearless heart”. This song makes me feel like I can do anything.
9. “Imaginary Monster“. Not gonna lie, this was my least favorite song in the entire record. I didn’t dislike it, as I’ve never really disliked one of their songs before, but it just didn’t strike me as much as the other songs on the album did or as much as some of their older songs. Maybe it’ll change after I listen to the album a little more. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.
10. “Forgotten Souls“. If I have to sum this song up in one word, it will be..."Tissues."
11. “Barricades“. Brilliant way to close out the album. That’s all I can say.
Our Last Night are a band who have never strayed far from their established sound and that’s not such a bad thing when it’s one of the most well-executed sounds in the post-hardcore scene. Younger Dreams improved songwriting, bigger melodies and fantastic instrumentation will surely push the band’s pop-punk meets alternative pop sound to more fans. Plus, it’s not a stretch to say that the sound on this record isn’t far from Fall Out Boy’s more recent efforts.
Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars
