Brightlight City - ''The Harmony & The Chaos' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Statues & Monuments 2. Feast On Fear 3. Through The Lens 4. Quit the Small Talk 5. A little social interlude 6. Songs Of Dissent 7. You’ll Get What’s Coming 8. Lets All Be The First To Take The Leap 9. Who You Are 10. Beneath The Tidal Wave 11. We Are The Fire

Once I pressed play on Brightlight City’s first full-length release, “The Harmony & The Chaos”, I was hooked. The first track, “Statues & Monuments”, sucks you in with chaotic Post-Hardcore stylings, reminiscent of bands like Thrice and At The Drive-In, that makes you feel as if you’re walking in on the first song of the band’s live set. The song makes you stay with a mix of catchy and meaningful lyrics delivered with an urgency by Jamie Giarraputo that can’t help but get lodged in your head.

The album continues to keep up the fevered pace with tracks like “Through The Lens” and “Quit The Small Talk”, which musically bring so much energy, and vocally feel like such a cathartic release for Giarraputo, that when the slow-paced, instrumental track “A Little Social Interlude” comes along, you’re happy for a chance to catch your breath. Throughout “The Harmony & The Chaos”, the theme of fighting depression and anxiety is explored. The song that best exemplifies this theme--and happens to be my favorite song off the album--is, “Who You Are”. The song’s pre-chorus hits home as it asks the question: “Am I falling apart? Is this Falling Apart?” But in typical Brightlight City fashion, the song picks up and makes a proclamation, ending in a gang vocal-filled outro that urges you to, “Make your way through the dark/finding out who you are.” If you’re looking for an amazing Post-Hardcore album with energy, substance, and catchy vocal lines that will get stuck in your head for days after listening, I would highly suggest “The Harmony & The Chaos”.