The Verse’s Sophie Baldock reviews Amber Run’s new album, ‘For A Moment, I Was Lost’
Amber Run is a band full of calming energy that soothes every fibre of your body, to the rhythm of their sound. From Nottingham, and having released their debut album 5am and three beautiful EPS, Amber Run have graced us with their second album. Full of complete harmony, For A Moment, I was Lost. is beautiful, blissful energy. So full of emotion that every song ignites some kind of meaning behind every lyric.
Their opening song Insomniac is quite lively with an upbeat rhythm as it starts the album off nicely, and the song has the feeling of being wide awake – the kind of song that could keep you awake as the title suggests, especially as it picks up as it continues, even though it’s one of their shorter songs on this album. Followed by No Answers which flows nicely from the first track, and as the song builds it grows in intensity with a powerful surge of beat as Joe Keogh’s voice becomes even more powerful, with it fading back out quietly.
Island and Stranger both have similar sounds; lyrics exuding feelings of being lost and in love even though it is hard. Mixed feelings of nerves, fear and happiness bleed through the lyrics, blending with the calming guitar and keyboard. Both are very powerful, thought provoking songs. Anyone with half a mind sits back and reflect on events they have experienced and people they hold dear to them.
Fickle Game is one of their shortest songs, but actually their second longest song on the album. Therefore it is slightly repetitive. While it is a beautiful piece of art, you may skip through this one after a few minutes. But it’s followed by Haze; which is the shortest song on the album but I found it to be the most mesmerising. A resounding wave of sadness rolls over you, a sort of trance as the music just fills you up from the inside out. White Lie has very powerful lyrics of self-doubt and inner sadness. It is a song that boasts feelings of inner turmoil, of wanting to be anything else but what you are, but how you are feeling is what makes you who you are. Perfect gives us the desperation of wanting to be good enough. Of having to be enough for those we care about and feeling that actually we deserve some perfect for once. It is a louder song which isn’t something they have much of on this album; but some parts have similar rhythm to White Lies, Insomniac and No Answers.
Dark Bloom, Machine and Are You Home? are also all beautiful, blissful late night songs that you would want to listen to on a rainy day with a warm drink in your hands. Lyrically, they are so bittersweet and soothing to listen to, and they have such powerfully haunting melodies full of emotion. It is hard to not focus on these songs – these are the songs that I feel like I couldn’t just have on in the background, they would have my full attention. The final song is called Wastleland, and what a song to end such an emotional, overwhelmingly thought provoking album on. This song is incredibly raw. Both in lyrics and beat, it has the sense of a tidal wave of emotions – as does the entire album itself.
Amber Run are a wonderfully talented band. They have such powerful music and infuse every song with such emotion, with such powerful lyrics and melodies that I was taken aback about just how intense this album is. Each and every song is its own, enforcing so many emotions with different levels of intensity, with such beauty that you came out of listening to them with the feeling of clarity of yourself and the world around you.
