Mutemath - Play Dead

Before I go into reviewing this album, I feel the need to give a bit of background about Mutemath.  The reason being they are not really that well known in the UK.  I have done a bit of investigation and since their formation in 2002 it looks like they have played a maximum of 10 gigs in the UK and have done one European tour which was this year. This is going by the past shows on Bands in town website. I'm not complaining they haven't done more in the UK, I respect their decisions, but more emphasising the reason why many people in the UK probably haven't heard of them. They do however seem to play in the US a lot. Also on Amazon.co.uk at time of writing there has only been 3 reviews on this album compared to Amazon's US site where it has 28 reviews.

So to introduce Mutemath, they are a 4 piece alternative rock band from New Orleans and "Play Dead" is their 5th full length outing. I got into them this year after finding them in the recommended because you like Paramore corner on Apple Music. For the record they do not sound like Paramore (as much as I like both bands!). I listened to their debut and was hooked and proceeded to buy their back catalog.  Even though their last album "Vitals" was released in 2015. The band had been working on "Play Dead" since 2012.

The outcome?  This is a blissfully magical record which will keep you captivated from the opening keyboards and vocals on "Hit Parade" to the closing moments on "Marching to End". I go on a lot about vocals in my reviews. But I really do feel that it is a big differentiater between bands and can make a good band great. This is what I feel Paul Meany does for Mutemath as he has some vocal range. They also tend to alter between keyboard orientated tracks and guitar driven tracks giving a fresh dimension to their sound and making the possibilities with their music more expansive.

I think the biggest sounding track on the album and probably best single material is "Break the Fever". Its got quite a dancy rock feel about it with a big chorus. For me though the stand out track on this album is "Placed on hold" and I seriously hope if I ever get to see this band live they play this because it is outstanding. It starts off with quite mellow with a few nice chilled out verses for the first few minutes before exploding into a great guitar riff and Meany's heavenly, energetic vocals. This song which is track 6 on the album sees a turning point in the album as a whole as the first half I would say is more poppy rock. But the second half of the album sees songs averaging about 5 minutes in length as they let those songs naturally expand into fruition.

Overall this is an absolute belter of an album. I love they way they are always trying to create new sounds to make their music unique.  This is definitely one of my albums of 2017. Is it one of the best albums they have done? In my opinion its between this and their last album "Vitals". It is a close call!