This is a 180g white vinyl version from 2015. The vinyl was pressed at Optimal Media in Germany so it sounds great and is pretty much flawless apart from the final track. I also own the Extended Edition of this album on CD which adds four songs and four remixes that aren't featured here.
The effortless nature of opening track "Never Ending Circles" belies its complexity and skilful production. Lauren's voice sounds amazing on both this and the next track "Leave A Trace" which provide the perfect opening. I am a firm believer that bands should front load an album with some of their best songs to ensure listeners are hooked in. This isn't just a commercial consideration but an artistic one. Human beings have short attention spans and if you want them to listen to the whole of your work, you need to pull them in right from the start.
When I first heard the start of "Clearest Blue" the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. As Lauren's vocal drew me in, the band began a build a release cycle that raised my expectations to dizzying heights. However, whilst the crescendo at 2:12 isn't without merit, it didn't pay off in the way I expected. This is about the only track in the world I would like to hear remixed by one of the thousands of anonymous Dutch DJs who peddle EDM/Trance.
We skip "High Enough To Carry You Over" as it features Martin on vocals and hit a seam of perfectly adequate songs that meander along until the next epic "Bury It" comes along. This is a great track with an explosive chorus that is as obvious a single as you could hope to hear. The final track"Afterglow" is a bit of a torch song that would provide the perfect ending if it didn't distort so much on the vinyl. So this album builds on their debut, but ultimately falls into the same trap of delivering highly charged and amazing songs alongside some more mediocre offerings. 3/5
