Needtobreathe - H A R D L O V E (2016)
With that in mind, I took a listen to Needtobreathe's new album H A R D L O V E. The band is a Carolina-based Southern rock outfit much in the vein of Kings of Leon with more roots, but this new record scraps a lot of that for something much more produced and sonically polished. After having two albums in a row be very, very introspective and heavy (The Reckoning and Rivers in the Wasteland), the band is ready to have a little more fun. They have actually undergone a lot of hardship and stress internally verging on them disbanding, with Rivers in the Wasteland being a record of reconciliation amongst a great sibling rivalry between brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart. So in a way, I think they deserve a little bit of a lighter take on things now.
One thing H A R D L O V E does quite well is change things up, especially with the more playful material. When I heard the first two singles, "MONEY & FAME" and "HAPPINESS," I was actually quite excited for this record. They both have an incredibly convincing swagger that echoes old-school soul music and contemporary artists like Alabama Shakes while also having some really cool lyrical choices that show that the band's troubled past is behind them. There's a lot of cool tracks like this on H A R D L O V E, including "DON'T BRING THAT TROUBLE," "WHEN I SING," and the title track, that have both really well-focused lyrics on Bear and Bo's reconciliation while also being incredibly fun to listen to. The softer side of Needtobreathe comes through well also, with "NO EXCUSES" being one of the band's most effective ballads to date, mostly due to its lyrics about a broken relationship meshing quite well with the musical backing. Another romantic ballad later in the album, "LET'S STAY HOME TONIGHT," might become a personal favorite of mine over time because of its pure sweetness and incredibly apparent sentimental value.
However, there are some "growing pains" very present in H A R D L O V E, most of which come from a lack of focus on the second half of the album. "GREAT NIGHT," despite being a fun barn-burner, just feels lyrically purposeless after hearing the first half's focus on Bear and Bo's reconciliation, while "CLEAR" comes way too close to comfort to the "God or girl" question (hint: it's the girl) and also is kind of a whimpering end to the album in comparison to former closers like "More Heart, Less Attack" and "Learn to Love." In fact, the last three tracks on the album (which includes the aforementioned highlight "LET'S STAY HOME TONIGHT") is a perfect example of track order being incredibly important. "TESTIFY" actually would have been a pretty decent track if it was placed before instead of after "LET'S STAY HOME TONIGHT" because it ended up being sandwiched between two romantic songs and not being able to breathe. I get why it is ordered the way it is (the pacing works better musically), but it would have made more thematic sense to flip the two. To further the pacing problems, H A R D L O V E feels really short to me. It seems as if the band didn't want to dwell on the harder and weightier moments much, especially with "NO EXCUSES." I absolutely loved this track, but it was over just as quickly as it began. I wanted more, and that's a feeling that for me carried over to the entire album as well.
Also, lyrically this record cannot compare to either The Reckoning or Rivers in the Wasteland. Granted, it's still a very well-written album, but there's a particular lack of depth and weight throughout. I know that those two albums were written in the middle of the band's hardest times as a group, and I wouldn't want to wish that on them ever again. However, those two albums proved what Needtobreathe is lyrically capable of, and to see H A R D L O V E lack that incredibly real lyricism is a little disappointing. It's not necessarily a criticism, as there are extenuating circumstances surrounding their darker, better albums; however, it's definitely something to note for longtime fans of the band.
Honestly, this is a little bit of a letdown from Needtobreathe. I expected the stylistic change to be better than it ended up being; however, it's not a complete and total failure. I like the swagger and soul feel that dominates much of H A R D L O V E, and the band's lyrics are still pretty solid on the whole. However, at times a little too much radio-friendliness seeps through in a bad way, and the heavy production does strip away some of the band's heart at times. That being said, this is still a fun listen worthy of your time. Just keep your expectations in check.
Rating: 3.5/5
Best tracks: "MONEY & FAME," LET'S STAY HOME TONIGHT," "HAPPINESS," "NO EXCUSES"
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