Transitioning from an electric and dance-pop sound in their previous album, “Freedom Child,” Irish rock band The Script returns to their native style of acoustic guitar, bass riffs and emotional lyrics in “Sunsets and Full Moons.” The band released its sixth studio album on Friday, Nov. 8, consisting of nine tracks. The Script has mentioned how the album is set to be the second part of their self-titled album which was released on Friday, Aug. 11, 2008. The band goes back to the sound that made them unique, unlike their music from “Freedom Child.”
The album opens with piano chords and drum beats on “Something Unreal,” a song focusing on past wounds being reopened and coping by hiding behind a false, glamorous identity on social media. The song’s melody is similar to Coldplay’s “Paradise” with vocals alike to “Human” by OneRepublic. Compared to the opening song of their previous album, “No Man Is An Island,” which opens up with repetitive sounds that blur together, this song has rhyming lyrics and is filled with emotion.
Going on to the second track and single of the album released on Friday, Sep. 20, “The Last Time” starts off with a sound of a broken record, repeating the title of the song over and over again. The song attempts to be a sad heartbreak song with lyrics “We said that it would last, but how come it’s the last time,” but the upbeat instrumentals and vocals prove the opposite. It tries to be like a previous heartbreak song, “Nothing” from The Script’s album “Science & Faith,” except the former does a greater job of conveying the feeling of disparity of wondering how a relationship didn’t work out with the promise of staying together forever.
Yet even as the songs seem to blur together in sound and theme, the seventh track, “Underdog,” breaks the constant theme of heartbreak, pain and overcoming losses. The theme of the song focuses on the fight to rise to the top and be the best despite struggles. It gives fans a reminiscence to their previous hit single “Hall of Fame” from its album, “#3,” and is another song about working to be known by the rest of the world and being on top. With lyrics that say “I’m going to prove the whole world wrong tonight,” the band claims the song is “for the underdog.” It hypes up listeners after multiple songs about pain and hurting. It also becomes the only song to have a catchy beat, different from the rest of the tracks.
Songs including “The Hurt Game,” “Hurt People Hurt People” and “If You Don’t Love Yourself” are somewhat forgettable and vary just enough to be distinguished from one another. They have the same formula of repeating the title that forms the chorus and majority of the song, while also keeping up with the theme of pain, heartbroken, tough love and overcoming the pain. Compared to the music of their self-titled and previous album, these songs take the previous successful older music and revamp them in watered-down versions.
The album closes with the song “Hot Summer Nights,” explaining the metaphorical meaning to the title “Sunsets and Full Moons.” Yet, it becomes another upbeat song that repeats the desire of wanting to keep sweet summer love. The song keeps the same instrumentals with most of the song consisting of repeating the lyrics for most, if not the whole song. It’s evident that the band had written the songs to match the music on its self-titled album but only with similar lyrics of heartbreak and pain.
With its use of returning to old and familiar music but keeping most tracks on the album a repetition of instruments and sounds, “Sunsets and Full Moons” receives a 3 out of 5 rating. Even as the band improves from the previous album with going back to its usual sound and having a clear vision of what it seeks out, The Script relies heavily on its use of old topics as well, disappointing fans with recycled music.
