The debut album from the Irish country breakout star comes just a year after his two huge first EPs. We’ve had the pleasure of watching him grow in a big way the last couple of years, from one of his first shows with a full band to both EPs, so we have been excited for this one since it was announced. And, what’s even more exciting, our recent new edition Jade is writing most of this one. Let’s dive in!
The album opens strong with ‘One The Got Away’. The power of this man’s vocals will forever absolutely blow me away. Even when he’s fully belting it just sounds so effortless and you can really feel every single emotion in his voice. The instrumentation compliments it beautifully, too. It’s a beautiful way to open the album and is a fantastic early high point!
‘Keep Myself From Dreamin” is just giving big; more of a stadium country vibe. It’s catchy and a bit more upbeat than the first track. I really love how he reels in the vocals and makes them a bit softer and isolated in the bridge before going into the final chorus. I can see this song getting huge!
This next track, ‘1000 Lifetimes’, took my breath away. Starting stripped-back and slowly building and then getting hit with such powerful vocals and absolutely beautiful lyrics gave me goosebumps. The control he has over his voice is just incredible. And again you can really feel the lyrics; there is so much emotion. This is gonna be the first dance song for so many weddings!
‘Changing My Mind’, although still a very beautiful love song, has less of a ballad vibe. The drums give it more of that upbeat, kind of bouncy feel, which is definitely needed after the last track. I am really enjoying how the pace of each track has been different so far. This is again shown in the next track, ‘Everything I Love’. The use of instruments in the intro is unlike what’s already been done. Then this one is giving a slight Bro Country vibe. And I mean that in the sense of listing different country things, except it’s a bit less cringe. It still gives a soulful vibe which I have come to expect from Gareth from his previous releases of the last year or two!
If you want to listen to one song to really hear the versatility in Gareth’s vocals, from the power, control and just the notes this man can hit, then ‘Don’t Say’ is the one to check out. It really has it all! You can feel ever ounce of emotion behind his vocals, and his delivery is truly stellar. Another easy highlight, and one that makes our playlist!
This next track, ‘Mother’s Eyes’, brings it back to his Irish roots whilst also keeping the country style. The Irish instrumentals really go hand in hand with this style of country, and the song is absolutely beautiful. And of course it’s made even more emotional with a voicemail from his mum just before this track starts. It was a fantastic touch that adds even more depth and creativity to not just the song, but the album as a whole.
After all of the love we then get hit with a bit more stripped back breakup song in ‘High on Love’. I can only describe it as almost acoustic; it builds to having more of an instrumental backing, but it’s not too heavy and this track is definitely made for the vocals to be center stage. It serves the purpose of giving the track a little bit of texture. But he could just sing this with an acoustic guitar and it would be just as powerful! Clearly we need an acoustic version of the song as a bonus track down the line!
We get quite the contrast with ‘Nights I Can’t Get Back’, which has a much bigger band backing, going back to the much bigger stadium country feel. Don’t get me wrong, he still sounds absolutely incredible, but I almost feel like he just doesn’t need it after having listened to more stripped-back tracks. It’ll be an incredible song live, but it just doesn’t feel quite as intimate as some of the other tracks and the emotion is maybe a tiny bit washed out. Though it could just be down to where this track has been placed on the album; we’ve been hit so hard from the start already!
Yet, just 30 seconds into ‘If You Want Me Too’, and that’s kind of set my opinion of the last track. This one goes back to the softer strings and gentler band backing. It just feels so much more emotional and that’s just something that draws me into Gareth. He’s definitely an artist that almost just needs his vocals to be framed rather than have a heavy support from a band. He could switch from having a full band to acoustic and the power and emotions is still very much present. You’ll get what I mean when you listen to any of these tracks. ‘Try’ is another great example of what I’m talking about. The vocals in this track are just incredible and you get those isolated vocals which just give you instant goose bumps.
The album ends on the more piano-led ‘Happy for You’. It’s another style which works so well with his voice! It’s a great choice to end the album, giving quite an epic moment to close everything out on. Another highlight on an album packed full of them!
Overall: I must say I really am in love with this album. I had pretty high expectations for it, especially after having seen Gareth live twice already. I wasn’t disappointed. The songs are a bit more on the slower side of country music, which I expected. Yet it almost felt like listening to a full story. The album starts with being in love and ends in heartbreak. Other than (in my opinion) the bizarre placing of ‘Nights I Can’t Get Back’ the album as a whole had a really nice flow and I really would recommend listening to it in full. I will most definitely be catching this on tour, I just know it’ll be amazing!
The Score: 9.5/10