 Album: Devils & Angels
Artist: Melee
Website: Official Site & MySpace
After a bidding war between major record labels, the quartet from California signed with Warner Bros. Records and teamed up with producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects, Daughtry) to release their highly-anticipated new album, Devils & Angels.
The band signed with Hopeless Records for their EP, Against The Tide, and their first full-length album, Everyday Behavior. The shift to Warner Bros. creates an opportunity for the band to enter the mainstream rock music scene and expand their fan-base.
This album is a breakthrough.
Glossed with pop and energized by alternative rock elements, Devils & Angels surpasses the average pop-rock album.
The opening track "Built To Last" is a piano-guided love song that introduces us to the lovely, soaring voice of singer-songwriter Chris Cron. This song is gentle and lifting. Lyrics like "I've looked for love in stranger places/ But I've never found someone like you" tell the story of a relationship that is built to last.
"Frequently Baby" is another upbeat song, fast-paced compared to "Built To Last". The song starts with falsetto wooo-hooo-ooo's that give the song a lovable, carefree fun feel, accelerated by the kicking rock chorus ("She's just a teenage maniac/ Rip my heart out on the dance floor"). Guitarist Ricky Sans blasts away the chorus with a riveting solo. The result is the most exhilarating song on the album.
The mood is toned down at the beginning of "Can't Hold On". Here, Cron opens the song with a delicate piano melody and intimate lyrics ("And if you can't hold on/ On your very last try/ I'll be there in the morning to pull you through"). Emotions are multiplied tenfold as the song climaxes after a few seconds of soft piano tones. Cron erupts with "You say you wanna be free/ But you can't fool me" with a rousing power.
The song ends with a roaring chorus chant ("If you can't hold on, ahhh/ Can't hold on, ahhh") that evokes emotions that reverberate even after the last few seconds fade into silence. "Can't Hold On" takes the exhilarating power of "Frequently Baby" and adds a wealth of emotional energy that leaves the listener breathless.
With Devils & Angels, Melee successfully manages to fuse rock and harmonious pop together to create an album that is sure to stir emotions.
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