LETTERS FROM THE FIRE | Letters From The Fire | Album Review

Letters From The Fire has a very interesting backstory around them that not many bands can claim to have. Originally going by the name Park Lane in the 2000's and then switching over to their current name in 2012, this act out of San Francisco did not begin their career as the female-fronted band they're known as today. Elliot Weber was the band's first vocalist for their pre-album work that included a Beatles cover in "Eleanor Rigby". A new direction came about a couple years later that caused Weber to leave and female vocalist Alexa Kabazie to jump on board the band's debut album "Worth The Pain", which had some excellent material and showed off the fact that this was a very talented group that could potentially have a lengthy career. But after that, a myriad of personal issues and circumstances had forced two members out including vocalist Alexa and now Letters From The Fire is fronted by model/actress Nina Bergman. With all of this, the band has now issued their self-titled second studio album, and multiple different directions are available for this album to go in. A band that unintentionally changes lead singers usually goes down a dark tunnel and fails to ever come back up, even if the band is fairly young and has the chance to turn things around. Let's see where Letters From The Fire has fallen within this category of bands, and let's see if the music is anything worth listening to .

The band issued the first single from this album, "Comfort Me", back in April, and boy did this single make me worry heavily about the upcoming project. You can tell that "Comfort Me" stood up against any one track from "Worth The Pain" is similar to putting apples and oranges in the same bucket, in the worst of ways. And it is not just solely due to my bias on the band's previous disc and how competent it was. This song is awful even beyond just that, and could possibly be one of the worst songs of 2018. Unlike on the previous album where there was some level of maturity and lyrical identity, "Comfort Me" throws that all out the window to sound more like a Halestorm/Pretty Reckless wannabe track with way worse lyrics and a more phoned in vocal performance from Bergman. Heck, the title of this song alone is nothing more than a over the top sex double entendre, and it makes it borderline unlistenable. Thankfully though, the two singles that came after this, "Harley" and "Naked In The Rain" are not NEARLY as bad as "Comfort Me", but there is still an underlining problem with both tracks. These two tracks could be somewhat decent, especially "Harley" which is the opener of the album, but the somewhat awkward lyricism mixed with the palatable riffs weakens both songs' quality, and the worst thing is that this is what you'll be encountering for most of the album. 

I want to put out there that I do not think Nina Bergman is a bad vocalist. She's perfectly fine, and on moments can be seen as somewhat okay on this album she does bring somewhat of a personality even though it is slightly diluted in nature. Before anyone assumes I am just yearning for the old vocalist to come back, please keep that rotating in your thoughts. However, a great majority of  this album is highly generic material that could work a lot better if different dynamics were switched around or altered. Tracks like the aforementioned "Naked In The Rain" and "Harley" as well as deep cuts like "Scream" and "Better Than Here" have elements to them that could meld into something solid, but everyone involved with the project couldn't connect the dots to create something memorable or even recommendable. All of these four tracks have the lyrical depth of a second grader, the production is weak when put up against its preceding album, and Nina Bergman herself clearly doesn't have as much of a strength for the higher vocal range as Alexa. This is further proof in tracks like "I Hate Everyone" and "BS", where nothing redeemable can be stated although admittedly they are far from the worst tracks on this album. Even the backing band themselves have taken a step back to deliver mostly run-of-the-mill guitarwork and basic musical construction. There's really not much to sink into with this album. 

To be honest, there are admittedly a few bright spots on the album. "Grow Up" seems a bit more of a personal track that is a bit stronger with its chorus, performance, and overall setup, even if the lyrics are a bit on the weak side. The last three tracks on the album, while not exceptionally great, are serviceable enough, with closing track "Safe Word" having the best chorus of the entire disc and "Xplode" and "See You On The Other Side" getting a bit softer but at least salvageable. Sadly, the seven other tracks are not like that at all and even the stronger moments on the album will make you realize that there is better music out there. This isn't the worst album I've heard this year or even the worst album I've ever heard, but it is SO disappointing to see a band with a bevvy of potential at their grasp fall this hard, and it's almost mesmerizing how far they've fallen. It seems like with the singer switch, the entire band went for a more diluted and sterilized style in order to aim for a bigger audience, and if this is the direction they will want to go in the future, I am not anticipating what's coming. I will keep following this band to see what actually does happen, and if anything on this album is appealing to you, go for it. But, as for this album, they have done MUCH better and they can do MUCH better than generic rock music written this poorly. For newcomers, I would recommend hearing their previous album instead and leave this one alone. 

RATING: 4/10 

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.