The album that The Early November’s self-titled reminds most of is Yellowcard’s Lift A Sail. Both are very late-period, arriving over 20 years intocareers that have remained impressively steady in blueprinting alt-rock and emo in the 2000s. (Yellowcard did significant more, granted, but whatever.) Moreover, both come directly after their respective band’s more straightforward, exuberant, (if it weren’t such a tainted phrase nowadays) ‘back to basics’ albums. Those were Yellowcard’s Southern Air and The Early November’s Twenty, a pair of releases glossed in the simplistic magic of both bands at their best, while also not neglecting that they are older and more long-lived as musicians. And apparently—as a new commonality thanks to this album—neither of them could be followed up nearly as well.
It’s an unfortunate likeness for The Early November especially to bear, when, unlike Yellowcard, mass ubiquity isn’t something they’ve got in nearly as plentiful amounts. They’re more explicitly rooted in the nostalgia lane, truth be told; it’s probably why Twenty was such a nice time, as a breezy exercise in rolling back the emo clock for a purity that can only exist from an act that were actually there. Therefore, this is quite the same clunker that Lift A Sail was, but the parallels remain regardless. Both opt for a more ponderous weight that neither’s wheelhouse typically considers, not entirely marginalising the spark of a band specialising in rip-of-sunshine melodies, but also not flattering it.
In The Early November’s case, they find themselves playing around more with electronics and production settings, and even on its face, that feels like a misstep. They’ve never felt like a band who’d benefit from something like that in great quantities, a prediction which they don’t exactly hesitate in bringing to life. After a trio of fairly innocuous but alright emo songs to begin, What We Earn introduces itself with an ominous, Chase Atlantic-esque mood, all glassy synth taps and sub-bass bubbles behind its colourless film. It’s a little jarring, to be honest, and not even a creative decision that The Early November seem to stick with that much. It’s more an offshoot of a production job that’s heavy on the cleanliness, but far, far lighter on the impact. These songs simply aren’t as sticky; the likelihood of sliding away due to their own mix is just too great.
There’s more to actively disappoint in that than anything else on this album, frankly. The Early November could make something from what’s here, but it isn’t intertwined all that solidly. The beauty in simplicity they’ve fostered in the past really doesn’t factor in much at all on the self-titled, instead wearing its lumps and ill-fitting connections without much thought for the consequences. Primarily, the core of The Early November gets either overshadowed, or dented to where it’s far from mint condition. Sure, The Magician and About Me have the old warmth peeking out, but contrast that with the harder, darker exterior of Tired Of Lying, or the acoustic It Will Always Be that’s more untenably twee than ever in the album’s context, and the crookedness pounces out.
All of that is well set in the knowledge that The Early November are trying. This is as far from a sellout move as you’ll get; they’re too innocuous of a band to feign believability in that. As such, you almost don’t want to crack down too harshly. Like, Ace Enders is still a rock-solid singer in tone and expressiveness, and the lyrics are…fine, if emo that’s been glued to formula for over two decades is your bag. More in the tone, there’s a vibe of genuine, heartfelt effort that might just be The Early November’s strongest suit here. It’s almost admirable to watch them sheepishly tread out of their comfort zone, only to overload a wee bit much than preferred but still try and assemble something. This is worlds away from the disaster area that patrons of the style often leave, simply because there is indeed enough to be salvaged. The first handful of tracks are solid, as are The Fool and The High Priestess—you’re not left with some astroturfed husk that barely even resembles the genuine article.
You’re also not getting tip-top condition either, mind. The Early November’s teething problems don’t make for the greatest listen, which is why this is more of a backslide than really anyone would want. Not even two years after such a solid little collection that revitalised their aura pretty sufficiently, a blow like this puts a serious dent in the prospect of that continuing long term. It’s more frustrating than outright deplorable, watching The Early November fumble around to such diminished returns, when there is an okay listen to be pieced together somewhere in this thing. It’s just that the effort to do so might not be wholly worth it, as The Early November continue to squat in their clear mid-range as tradition has so often dictated.
For fans of: Yellowcard, The Starting Line, Armor For Sleep
‘The Early November’ by The Early November is released on 14th June on Pure Noise Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
