Album review: ANGELS AND AIRWAVES – The Dream Walker

[Released 09.12.14]

This album is just one part of a multimedia project from Angels and Airwaves that will include a short film, comic books, a graphic novel, videos and animations that will all tie in to a central character known as Poet Anderson. Not sure when the related materials like the comic book are released.

The band feature Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge and the band have slimmed down to a core duo, with Ilan Rubin remaining alongside DeLonge.

I have not really paid much attention to the band previously, however this album will make you sit and take notice. It is very synths/drum beats heavy like Muse or Coldplay and has some glorious melodies like on ‘The Wolfpack’ or the instant aural hit of the album’s opener ‘Teenagers And Rituals’.

The musical backing is awash with synths, urgent drums and almost prog rock vibes on a song like ‘Kiss With A Spell’. There is a whiff of the Killers on ‘Bullets In The Wind’ and there is surprisingly little guitar on the album. In fact ‘Anomaly’ is the only song where the guitar gets heard, a gentle piece that rounds off the album well. Highlighting too the melodious vocal of DeLonge (digging the tabla and steel drums on the song too!).

A far cry from the comic punk pop of Blink 182, Angel and Airwaves have produced an album you will keep coming back to as the music is just so damn catchy. Time to investigate their backlist for this music fan…

****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)