Album Review - The Afters' Light Up The Sky!

The Afters have a knack for writing songs that are both straightforward and incredibly catchy.

Light Up The Sky is an incredible pop-rock offering from the band that is destined for extended airtime in your car stereo and/or iPod. Marrying a modern OneRepublic-esque vibe with irresistably catchy lyrics and melodies, LUTS is one of those albums you fall in love with at first listen, and can't get enough of for quite a while.

In a day and age when singers and songwriters all seem to be trying to outdo each other in writing the most artistic and difficult to comprehend lyric, LUTS is a breath of fresh air in its lyrical simplicity and honesty. There's no need to scratch your head and wring every ounce of brain juice trying to decipher what they're singing about. The message of each song is clear and unmistakable.

What really carries this album though, are the vocal and music arrangements. Josh Havens' voice has a distinct edge to it that's never unpleasant, and when he switches to falsetto (which happens pretty frequently in this album) it only serves to add emotion to the lyric. Coupled with modern rock beats, driving guitars, and the occasional piano riffs, LUTS has 'radio-friendly hits' written all over it.

In fact, I was in my car the other day with a couple of colleagues, and this album was playing. My colleagues were instantly drawn to the music (the title track was playing I think) and I had the opportunity to introduce the band and album to them ("Are you serious?" one of them said, "they're called The Afters? Like, not before, but after?").

Here's the official music video of the title track - which, I have to say, almost made me cry, especially towards the end:






Here's another standout track from the album:






All in all, this is one album I won't hesistate to recommend.









I daresay that these songs will stick with you for quite a while, even after you've stopped the CD.

Here's an idea: if you have a pre-believing friend whom you're trying to share the love of God with, but haven't been able to do so, you could consider gifting this album to him/her. The music is relevant enough to catch their attention, and the lyrics are simple and meaningful enough so you can start a God-centered conversation with them. In fact, I think I might just try this myself...