Artist: Burn
Title: Falling In Reverse
Genre: Wave Rock / Indie
Release Date: 8th December 2023
Label: Burnmusic
Album Review
More than 25 years into their career and after three long years of working, writing and recording, Wave-Rockers BURN finally release their fifth long-player ‘Falling In Reverse’. Maybe this pandemic thing decelerated the process, after all they also did their 25th anniversary gig at the very club where everything started in 1995 - a youth club in the suburbs of Münster, Germany - with a three-year delay for this very reason.
Anyway, ‘Falling in Reverse’ is finally here now and the first thing that attracts your attention - aside from the wonderful cover picture - is that BURN return to English lyrics with this one after two albums exclusively in their native tongue, German. Fans who follow the band of course knew this already, as BURN released no less than seven singles over the last nine months leading up to the album. Whatever “single” means these days - usually simply a video released on YouTube, and that’s exactly what they did. Knowing seven out of ten songs in advance is pretty much the only bummer about ‘Falling In Reverse’ but here we have all the new stuff in all its glory and in the way the artists want it.
The album starts with the first song they released in advance in early 2023, ‘Anomaly’. It’s a slow burning, pretty dark piece which erupts into an epic Pop chorus in the second half. It does its job as opener perfectly and encapsules many of BURN’s signatures. Since the beginning BURN have been frequently compared with THE CURE, last but not least because of singer Felix Friberg’s voice which sounds a lot like a young and more aggressive Robert Smith. Musically there’s more to BURN, they certainly paid close attention to all the bands from the New Wave and Post-Punk era, be it THE CHAMELEONS or ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN or KILLING JOKE. Add a dose of synth work, strings, NINE INCH NAILS edginess, and a knack for irresistible hooks and choruses, and there you go! ‘Anomaly’ has all that but we also need some up-tempo Rock, which the second song ‘Locust’ delivers.
There seems an intentional(?) nod to THE CURE’s ‘Play For Today’ at the beginning of song number three, ‘Grey’, but the song soon evolves in a completely different direction. It might be the catchiest song on an album which is certainly not short of catchy songs, and if you are unfamiliar with BURN so far ‘Grey’ may be a good starting point. The title song comes in at number four and displays the deeply melancholy and balladry side of the band. This side returns later with the heart-wrenching ‘Stay’ but the middle of the album is dominated by a few more up-temp numbers like the funky ‘Make Me Forget’, the urging and multi-facetted ‘enloA-Alone’ and the aggressive ‘Void’. Do I hear a hint at noughties Indie like THE HIVES or THE BRAVERY here? Perhaps it is just me but such a smasher fits them well and just shows BURN’s range.
Melancholia returns for the end of the album with the aforementioned ballad ‘Stay’, mid-tempo anthem ‘Dystopia’ complete with a synth-driven groove and a spine-tingling chorus and, finally, ‘Homecoming’. I couldn’t imagine a better way to end a BURN album than this monumental dark masterpiece with a brilliant string arrangement, piano dabs and hypnotic guitar work. And when you want to play the album all over again as soon as the last song fades out, then the album closer certainly did its job! It's a miracle that BURN don’t rank higher in the German alternative scene. They certainly did their best, including support slots for varied acts such as SHE PAST AWAY, ASP, or SCHANDMAUL. And surely the most important thing, releasing quality music.
Perhaps this album and the upcoming tour with L’AME IMMORTELLE will lift them to new heights success-wise. Without a doubt it would be well deserved! I looked hard for something to complain about in ‘Falling In Reverse’ and found nothing - their best album to date, simply. And shortly before 2023 ends a contender for the top 10 albums of the year. ‘Falling In Reverse’ is available on CD and vinyl at https://burn-shop.de and on all streaming platforms - minus Bandcamp, unfortunately. In any case, now just go and listen to the damn thing!
Tracklist
01. Anomaly
02. Locust
03. Grey
04. Falling in Reverse
05. Make Me Forget
06. enloA-Alone
07. Void
08. Stay
09. Dystopia
10. Homecoming
Line-up
Felix Friberg - Vocals, Guitar
Stefan Timm - Guitar
Markus Düring - Bass
Jörg Schwaer - Drums
Website
https://www.burnmusic.de / https://www.facebook.com/burnmusicdotde
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9.5
Sound: 10
Total: 9.8 / 10
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