Review by Emily Belton
“Circle” presents everything to love about
Kyshera– memorable instrumentation,
soaring vocals and hooks to go crazy for.
This album’s prime selling point lies within
the lead singer, James Kennedy who gives
unreal vocals on every song on the album.
Kyshera’s incredible solidarity on Circle,
alone sets the bar enormously high for their
next album to come.”
The first track “Napoleon”, as the opener
paves the way for the near hour-long record.
Despite its length, it does anything but drag on.
This is thanks to James Kennedy’s vocals
which hold the listeners attention and never let
go. The heavy drums, infectious bass and
synth riffs make it the perfect track to open this
album. Filled with exploding crescendos,
“Napoleon” immediately captures the
listener’s’ attention.
The fifth song off the album “The Wrong
Size” takes more of a straightforward pop-rock
stance. The song has everything from upbeat
tempo, amazing guitar riffs and an explosive
and catchy chorus. Its dance oriented nature
makes for a bit of diversity on the album yet it
doesn’t disrupt the album’s seamless flow.
Along with other ballads on this album, “The
Wrong Size” is a love song that’s bound to get
stuck in your head. For me one of the best
tracks on the album.
“Break This” further advances Circle
sonically as the track is uncharted territory.
40
The dark whispering vocals and eerie guitar
riffs featuring in the enchanting opening
proves the bands unique songwriting ability.
Standouts “Demon” and “Endgame” provide
a break from the dramatic ballads as they’re
absolutely massive rock numbers that are huge
on substance, catchiness, and production,
which is something Kyshera has down to a tee.
The second song is titled “Demon” for a
reason. The bad-ass synth riffs, raging guitar
and f *** the world attitude in the lyrics make
the song title damn near perfect. “Scream out
if you don’t give a f***.” With somewhat
inspirational ideas in lyrics ….“Take your
desires and live with no limits/”. Demon is a
guaranteed favourite.
With that said, the band does a superb job on
the slower tempo tracks such as “Gone” and
“The End”.
The bands new single “Gone” introduces the
band’s ballad side, with a catchy melody type
love song. It’s not the most memorable track
off the album, not even a close second, but
nevertheless a heartfelt song with sheer
emotion. The official video is rather distracting
when trying to listen to the music and slightly
cringing to say the least. I would recommend
watching the video of James Kennedy’s
acoustic version which is without the bad
acting and is equally as good stripped back.
“The End” quite evidently wraps up the
album. With quite a sudden drop in energy in
comparison to the rest of the album,
5.0
considering there isn’t a single pause
throughout the entire album. It’s slow
tempo, softly sung vocals and gentle
acoustic guitar playing puts a stop to our
heart palpitations. No doubt beautifully
written, “The End” joins together different
sides of the band and captures the wide
variety of songs that can be heard on this
album. Perhaps not the best song to “end”
the album. Pun intended. I think this
album, as energetic as it is, desperately
needed to go out with a bang.
To sum up this album, the most energetic
and stronger songs are at the start. The
bands killer bass stands out in this album
the most while it lacks many guitar solos.
While Kyshera may be similar in sound
with other acts, Circle separates them from
others and cements them as a recognizable
band. Although their sound is slightly
different from the likes of Marianas
Trench, Papa Roach, Breaking Benjamin,
and Rage Against The Machine, those are
some of the bands that could be compared
to them the most.
Kyshera have taken solid, hard-rocking
songs and twisted them into something
that’s entirely their own. Circle is out on
March 16th & the UK headline tour starts
in April 15th.
It’s possible that Circle will be a strong
contender for one of the best pop-rock
albums of 2015.