Review: Lower Than Atlantis – Changing Tune

Watford based Lower Than Atlantis released their new record Changing Tune this week. It was one of the releases that I was anxiously waiting for of this year. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes. Better even, they exceeded them. Although LTA’s sound has become more mature, and perhaps is more alternative rock-ish here and there compared to the last album World Record, the influence of the debut full length Far Q is never far away.

The first track that you will hear once you take the LP out of the sleeve – that has some stunning artwork – and put it on your record player is ‘Prologue’. It’s basically a nice and calm acoustic intro, that slowly accelerates and flows into an almost seamless transition to the second song: ‘Love Someone Else’. This song was released as a single about a month ago. Take some time to look up the video on youtube, it’s great.

Track 4 is ‘Wars With Words’, and is another one of my favorites. It reminds me of Balance And Composure and Make Do And Mend in some ways. Can’t wait to see this one live some day. The next tracks, ‘Go on Strike’ and ‘Normally Strange’ respectively, were previously released as singles as well. The latter one is probably the heaviest songs off the record, and the show stealer for me. This tune more or less takes me back to LTA’s early days; it breaths the darkness of Bretton.

‘Scared of the Dark’, being another calm acoustic song, somewhat functions as an interlude. It works really well, the female backup vocals really give the song a special atmosphere. Next up are ‘Something Better Came Along’ and ‘PMA’. Two songs that seamlessly fade into each other, and consequently form a very strong and more melodic duo together.

Changing Tune consists of a carefully balanced mix between soft and fast / heavier songs. Even though this record hardly is ‘hardcore’ any more, it’s really refreshing for me and with that a welcome addition to my iTunes library. LTA produced twelve excellent songs that probably will not leave my iPod any time soon. Be sure to check this LP out, and try to get the Deluxe edition (iTunes), as it comes with five cool bonus tracks and a DVD-documentary.

Track list – Changing Tune: