It’s the first one that feels like it’s missing something. It has an ill fitting One More Time sound to it, but there’s something in the composition that feels a little further than usual from the LP sound.
(This is no complaint about Emily. I like the first two songs)
This new song gives off a kind of slower vibe that feels to me like it's meant to balance out the fast-paced, aggressive feel of the first two singles. We also get to hear a slower, more melodic tone from Armstrong, which I thought was neat to hear.
I don't personally like it, but I don't mind it either. I'm absolutely still looking forward to the album's release.
I've put in a few listens now.
First, I had to separate the video from the song, since I was using revanced at the time for YouTube. Because the video is rough, in the good way. It hits hard, even knowing what trope they were using maybe a minute in.
The song itself is, out of everything they've released with Emily, live and recorded, the first song that sounds like a new band. Don't get me wrong, the overall vibe is still LP, but the sound is more stripped back than usual, and has a more linear progression both instrumentally and lyrically. A lot of previous LP is built around more surges and cuts back and forth.
This is pretty much their most "pop" song they've done, imo. It's still pop rock, but it's less divergent from the pop rock "feel" than anything on one more light, which gets called their poppiest music sometimes.
The way they've chosen their release of the album, the singles and the live shows, is smart. They gave a bridge between "old" LP and the "new". It worked. If this had been the first song they released, without any of the momentum showing what Emily can do, it would have been too big a departure from expectations. Too jarring to let us transition between the grief and the hope.
I like the song. It's a tad prosaic lyrically, but that's not a bad thing. It isn't prosaic dull, it's prosaic simple and straightforward with a story to tell. Obviously, the line between simple and dull is subjective, but I find it well crafted enough to avoid dullness. The instrumentation is as solid as it gets; the band is a group of professional musicians that know exactly how to craft a song, and it shows clearly.
I'm hyped for the album at this point. I don't know exactly what we'll get, but i can't imagine it being boring.
I've seen some people talking about the reason this song being pop is that all albums must have a radio song where almost everyone in the general public would accept. So my personal take while this song diverges from the classic LP style and the 2 previous songs, it doesn't really count towards the theme of the upcoming album.
I hope this song is just a show of "we can do this style" rather than "we will be doikg this style from now on", because I can already name a handful of pop songs with a similar style, and it kinda loses the point of LP.
IDK yet, honestly.. I've listened once.. and I just can't get this feeling that I could just listen to One More Light album or any other prev. Linkin Park w/ Chester and get the same feels.
I am still hesitant on Emily being the new vocalist, it doesn't hit the same as Chester to me, especially since the two new more 'rock' singles have older sound-alikes that I still listen to everyday.
Hmm, I'll see. It's been only a while since the single released. Maybe I'll find it as good as the One More Light album or not, who knows? I haven't even listened to it outside of release.
when i first heard it i thought it sounded like mainstream pop and didnt like it, but after hearing it a few more times, i starting to like it a lot, maybe not to the level of emptiness machine, still it good a cool rhythm and it vibes