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The Sounds: Something To Die For (Album Review)

And now at last we’ve come to it, the final review of our flashback series covering The Sounds’ entire album catalog. Their fourth album is called Something To Die For and it was released back in 2011. What separates Something To Die For from the rest of their albums is that for the first time ever the band went at it solo and produced the record themselves. They took control of the boards, came together as one, and created an album, that frankly, has divided those pesky critics. We’ll get to all of that in a bit. I just want to thank our readers and The Sounds for their support via Twitter and other social media platforms. This was a totally unsolicited project that sprung out of our initial review of the band’s latest album: Weekend (HERE). As per our usual suggestion – get yourself a libation (21 and over only), sit back, and enjoy Something To Die For. 

Album  

Once again, after touring behind their previous effort (Crossing The Rubicon) all around the world for two years, that lovable indie rock/new wave band from Sweden would come back home to the cold and darkness of winter to begin writing, PRODUCING, and recording their fourth album entitled: Something To Die For. That was 2011, so how did I just (re) discover this band and come upon THIS album in the early part of 2013? Life is a trip sometimes.

I think I had some downtime earlier this year and I was mildly curious as to what The Sounds were up to – keep in mind if you’ve been reading our flashback coverage for the other albums you’ll have read that I tuned out after 2006. I was watching videos on YouTube and I came across their music video for a song called Dancing With The Devil and I thought I’d give it a spin. Well, that did it for sure. I was instantly hooked and there has been no going back ever since. I proceeded to track down any other videos, live performances, etc., and eventually I purchased the vinyl copy. It was such a stellar album. The Sounds took elements of dance and trance and combined it with their signature indie rock/new wave material and the end results were indeed something to die for. 😉

Reaction to the album was mixed critically. Some said that the “radical” change in the music caught them off guard and whatnot, which is sort of ironic, because it was these same critics that said the same thing about their previous albums. They had said that they hadn’t “grown,” blah, blah, blah.  Fan reaction, on the other hand, was great as far as I could tell. It also helped that I’m a big fan of dance and trance music, so I was on cloud nine. Something To Die For also marked the first time that The Sounds would enter the recording studio with no one to answer to but themselves. They decided to produce the album due to not being happy with their demos done with other producers. If you want something done right you do it you do it yourself, huh.

After giving Something To Die For several spins I was addicted to the record and thought that even though it was a very dance-groove oriented album some of the songs were very dark and twisted. They were very dark and twisted but NOT depressing. I’m not a fan of depressing music and was glad that the album rocked the not-so-happy subject matter without bringing me down. Hell, the lead off track is called It’s So Easy and it’s a very positive song. They did stay consistent in terms of writing and recording songs that could be considered different parts to the same story like they started on with Crossing The Rubicon. The No No Song can be considered the first part to their “unofficial” trilogy of tracks that also include Yeah Yeah Yeah and finish off with Shake Shake Shake on their newest album. The one song that really caught me off guard on Something To Die For was The Best of Me, because Maja really sings her heart out on that one – it gives me chills every time I listen to it.

As some may or may not know, 2013 has had some devastating lows and wondrous highs for me and the family, and Something To Die For (and the band, of course) have been there as a catharsis of sorts. Their new album entitled Weekend and seeing them live in Los Angeles last month was the catalyst that put this whole retrospective review series in motion to begin with, so it comes full circle now. I may have been late to the party but I’ll be one of the last people to leave.

Once again, thank you to our loyal readers and to our new ones, as well. Having recently come back from my self-imposed hiatus, writing up this flashback retrospective along with the new album review was a lot of fun and it was something that I needed to do. Thanks again for reading and we’ll see you at the movies…err show…you know what I mean. Cheers!

 

Track Listing

It’s So Easy

Dance With The Devil

The No No Song

Better Off Dead

Diana

Something To Die For

Yeah Yeah Yeah

Won’t Let Them Tear Us Apart

The Best Of Me

Wish You Were Here

Something To Die For (Single Mix)

Something To Die For (Acoustic Version)

 

Order Something To Die For via Digital Download and get TWO Bonus Tracks!