Daylight - Jar review

After releasing three EP’s, Daylight are back with their highly anticipated first full length album ‘Jar’.

‘Sponge’ is a very powerful opener. A perfect opener to the album, big sounding guitar riffs mixed with very clean vocals which add an almost eerie effect to the song. The song ends in typical Daylight style with an experimental riff, low guitar tone and heavy drumbeats. ‘Life In a Jar’ erupts with a very grungy introduction, very similar to the likes of Nirvana. This grungy sound is present throughout with a very low bass tone. The vocals are much stronger in this song, much like the vocal style heard in the ‘Dispirit’ EP.

‘Outside of Me’ and ‘Sheltered’ again show the soft side of Daylight’s vocalists. These two tracks are very flowing in sound and structure and don’t have as much instrumental activity as the first couple of songs. Both songs are very effective at keeping the album rolling onto the next tracks. These tracks will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the sound of bands such as Balance and Composure and Citizen.

‘Crawl’ is my personal favourite on the album, again the use of interesting guitar riffs provides something new, the emotionally charged vocals in this song is what makes this song so likeable. ‘Last October’ continues the powerful theme created by ‘Crawl’ - again the vocals are very emotionally charged and very meaningful, so similar to previous works of Daylight. The potent drums and guitar complements the strong vocals perfectly, the bridge again gives the listener a new experience.

‘Youngest Daughter’ slows down proceedings; it’s a much slower songs than previous on the album. This track is very reminiscent of post-grunge band Sunny Day Real Estate. It provides a nice break in-between the album and shows the variety of sound that Daylight is trying to showcase on their first LP. ‘Knew’ is the first short song that Daylight have ever written, again it shows their progression in sound and their experimentation of new ideas.

‘No One’s Deserving’ is another slower number; again I’m picking up vibes of 1990’s grunge and emo bands, a sound that Daylight draws much comparison too. The vocals are consistently impressive on this album and blend in wonderfully with the sludgy guitar sound.

‘Hole in the Ground’ gives the listener another example of experimenting with different sounds. The guitar and drums are much less potent on this track and the vocals take front stage which is very interesting to hear, others may say that it is a dull number which does not fit on the album but I believe that is encouraging to hear a band experimenting so much on their first full length album.

‘In On It’ was the first song released prior to the album and again in my opinion resembles grunge legends Nirvana. This track is the catchiest on the album and is one of my personal favourites. I have no doubt this track generated great anticipation for the whole album. ‘Around The Railing’ repeats the same nature of the songs towards the start of the album. The vocals are dominant throughout this number until the last couple of minutes which is full on guitar riffs until the end of the track, and the end of an excellent debut album.

It was my most anticipated album of 2013 and it hasn’t disappointed a refreshing combination of a range of different sounds rolled into one album, it will be probably end up as being my favourite album of the year.