Dissonants
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
Dissonants is the third album by Australian rock band Hands Like Houses, released on February 27, 2016. It was preceded by the singles "I Am", released on March 15 and "New Romantics", released on October 2, 2015. The album follows the band's sophomore studio album, Unimagine (2013), and debuted at No. 7 on the ARIA Albums chart. It is the first album to not feature keyboardist Jamal Sabet who left the band back in 2014 to pursue other musical endeavours. In the week of March 29, 2016, "Colourblind" debuted on the US Active Rock chart at No. 49.[1]
Background
Hands Like Houses began recording the album in April 2015. The band worked with James Paul Wisner, whom they had previously worked with on their sophomore effort, Unimagine (2013). After about two months, the band said that the album was near completion. During an interview with ppcorn.com, guitarist Alex Pearson gave a tentative October release date for the album.[2]
Despite a few setbacks, including the cancellation of a headline UK tour in November 2015, the band announced on December 18, 2015 that the album would be released on February 26, 2016 and unveiled the album's full track listing and artwork.[3] The band performed two free acoustic performances with signings in Australia upon the album's release.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Blunt Magazine | |
| Mind Equals Blown | 7/10[5] |
| Mosh | 9/10[6] |
| New Noise Magazine |  [7] |
| RockRevolt Magazine | [8] |
The album was met with critical acclaim upon its release. Most critics citing the album's massive choruses, the lyrics, and Trenton Woodley's vocals. Most credited the band's "heavier" sound as part of the album's success.
Writing for Highlight Magazine, Annette Hansen said of the lyrics, "The magic on this record, though, is in the emotional appeal and lush imagery presented in the lyrics. As I kept listening to this album, hearing more and more of the lyrics each time, it was hard not to want to make note of many beautiful lines." She went on to quote songs Colourblind and Stillwater as examples.[9]
Matt Doria of Blunt Magazine praised Woodley's programming and lyrics in particular, writing, "...synths are indefinitely more refined - less obnoxious, but as prevalent as they've ever been. Along with a broadened hot-to-cold singing range, his songwriting has also sharpened tenfold; subject matter is the same as it's always been, but Woodley is no longer appealing exclusively to Newtown hipsters..." [10]
In general, most reviewers cited tracks Glasshouses, Stillwater, and Degrees of Separation as the album highlights, along with singles, I Am, New Romantics, and Colourblind.
Track listing
All songs written by Hands Like Houses, with additional writers listed [11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Am" | Erik Ron | 4:19 |
| 2. | "Perspectives" | Ron | 3:57 |
| 3. | "Colourblind" | Mike Green | 3:42 |
| 4. | "New Romantics" | Caleb Shomo | 3:38 |
| 5. | "Glasshouse" | Shomo | 4:20 |
| 6. | "Division Symbols" | Green | 3:40 |
| 7. | "Stillwater" | Ron | 3:48 |
| 8. | "Momentary" | 3:14 | |
| 9. | "Motion Sickness" | Blake Harnage, Lyndsey Gunnulfsen | 3:35 |
| 10. | "Degrees of Separation" | Harnage, Shomo, Gunnulfsen | 3:41 |
| 11. | "Grey Havens" | Beau Burchell | 3:43 |
| 12. | "Bloodlines" | 3:11 |
Personnel
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Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] | 7 |
| US Billboard 200[13] | 68 |
References
- ^ "America's Music Charts". Mediabase. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ Johnson, Mark. "Hands Like Houses: "A bit of a darker side to the next album"". ppcorn.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
- ^ "NEWS: Hands Like Houses announce new album, 'Dissonants', out February 26th 2016!". DEAD PRESS!. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- ^ Neil Z. Yeung. "Dissonants - Hands Like Houses, Songs, Reviews, Credits, AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ M.J Rawls. "Hands Like Houses - Dissonants". Mind Equals Blown. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Santhi Tara Weiss. "Hands Like Houses - Dissonants Album Review". Mosh (Hit the Floor0. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Nathaniel Lay. "Album Review: Hands Like Houses - Dissonants". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Ted Darden. "ALBUM REVIEW: HANDS LIKE HOUSES - DISSONANTS". RockRevolt Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Annette Hansen. "Review: Hands Like Houses - Dissonants". Highlight Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ Matt Doria. "Review: Hands Like Houses - Dissonants". Blunt Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
- ^ "AllMusic Review by Neil Z. Yeung". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Hands Like Houses – Dissonants". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- ^ "Hands Like Houses Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2016.