Snow Patrol - Fallen Empires Review

Posted by Wyatt E. on 01.11.2012

The latest from Snow Patrol finally sees its North American release! Let's celebrate by all feeling underwhelmed together.

Sigh.







1. I'll Never Let Go - 4:44
2. Called Out in the Dark - 4:01
3. The Weight of Love - 4:17
4. This Isn't Everything You Are - 4:58
5. The Garden Rules - 4:29
6. Fallen Empires - 5:20
7. Berlin - 2:05
8. Life-ning - 3:53
9. New York - 4:01
10. In the End - 4:00
11. Those Distant Bells - 3:17
12. The Symphony - 6:07
13. The President - 4:35
14. Broken Bottles Form a Star (Prelude) - 1:30


Sorry about this, but I had to laugh when I put this album on and "I'll Never Let Go" started playing, because the first thing I heard was a churning electronic sound in the key of B, and maybe it's the tempo or something but it sounds exactly like "Friday." Still amuses me. I mean, as the song goes on, it starts not sounding like "Friday," but yeah, I keep expecting to hear "ooo-oooo-OOOOOO, YEAH YEAHHHHHH".

Before deciding to check out Fallen Empires, I hadn't been acquainted in Snow Patrol in a long, long time. Not since 2003's Final Straw. Quite a bit has changed; namely, they've had one major, career-defining radio hit in "Chasing Cars" that has been everywhere on the radio for the past few years. They're no longer a post-alternative rock outfit with a predilection towards guitar pop. Judging by this album, they have a new fondness for shiny electronics to gloss up their simple love songs.

And Snow Patrol still specialize in simple love songs. "Simple" is really a key word in describing what Snow Patrol do; they're very straightforward in their approach to pop. This album in particularly is a very post-Coldplay sound, spiked with a bit of Arcade Fire for good measure, in case they need a little more of an ethereal feeling. Of course, they can't resist the use of keyboards in order to keep a modern sheen. It works, in the sense that they sound youthful enough that you'd never guess that the band started out in 1994. (Probably not really a good thing.)

This has the effect of making Snow Patrol sound more ordinary than usual - they don't have much of the organic feeling that some of their brighter moments have. Surely, they try hard to make all the right moves here: "This Isn't Everything You Are" sounds pretty and all, but it feels like it used "Chasing Cars" as a starting point (still an album highlight despite that). "The Garden Rules" is a middling affair that gets a boost from the group-sung "you will never know how much I love you" towards the end. Actually, there's quite a few group vocals used here - has someone in the Snow Patrol camp been listening to 30 Seconds to Mars?



Beyond the little quirks, it still feels like typical Snow Patrol, and depending on how you feel about the band, that could make or break the album. The main problem here is that there seems to be no sense of purpose to the album, other than Snow Patrol being about due to put out another selection of lighter-swayers and shy boy/girl love songs. That would explain the threadbare lyrics, which never seem to raise any serious concerns above typical romantic metaphors. The lead singer can sing, and quite well at that, but he's not capable of working miracles when the lesser songs come on (in fact, on "The President," he even sounds bored).

On an interesting note, Fallen Empires was intended as a more experimental album, intended to make fans keep an "open mind." Hey, listen. I am all for branching out, experimenting with different sounds and creating something fresh and new. It's just that I never get the sense as I listen to this album that the band is creating something new. It sounds like the band took a look back at what's hot the last few years, and decided to make an album based on their findings. I'm not saying this method is faulty by design, but the sounds Snow Patrol use here aren't really new. Worse, they don't sound fresh.

The 411: Snow Patrol are a mildly likable crew, who have a decent knack for a lush love song. It's pretty unfortunate to hear this album, then, because it sounds like they don't have much to say beyond their usual schtick, and they obviously wish they did. You won't be too turned off if you're a fan, but this isn't going to bring in anyone new or anything. Y'know, I'll let you guys in on a little secret, as someone who reviews music: it's never the bad albums you truly hate to come across; it's the dull ones.

Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]