"Time to Give" was the first single to drop from this album and is also the first track off the album. One thing which grabs you straight away is the fact this is a 7 minute tracks which must make it one of their longest and arguably most ambitious tracks to date. By releasing this track first it must be of the mindset that you aren't going to get much radio play and relying on the existing fan base you have already built to spread the word about the quality of this track. It did take a while for me to get into it but now I love it. The one key thing for me that shows the sign of a good long song is that it doesn't feel like a long song and that time seems to fly by. This is what this track does and to me that shows what a good track and thus what a good album opener this is.
One thing I got the impression before this album came out was the band were building this record up to how different the album was and how it was the best album they have ever done etc. I understand that bands do this to sell records and they probably are genuine and do believe in what they are doing and that it is the best thing they have ever done. But in my opinion, while this is a good record, I wouldn't say they have gone off the beaten White Lies track in any shape or form. Yes they have made a track on this which is slightly longer. Yes they have made tracks which differ from tracks that they have made in the past. But it has that White Lies sound all over it which they have been honing more and more over the years.
2 of my other favourite tracks off the album are "Finish Line" and "Tokyo" which they also released as singles/videos. "Finish Line" has a lovely acoustic opening and the vocals in places are spot on. "Tokyo" is an absolute tune and has a good feel to it all the way through. Overall again the consistency/quality of the songs is a good standard but one track I find a bit of a let down is album closer "Fire and Wings". To me here they are going for the epic album closer. But it just doesn't quite get going and ends up a bit stale. Another slight gripe is that its 9 tracks. To me unless its a track full of 10 minute plus songs, then albums should be 10-15 tracks. So slightly short changed but maybe I would have been talking about another not very good song on this album if they had made it 10 tracks so lets leave it there.
Overall this is a strong album and I would say they have just about kept there consistency going. There are some real classics on here and it is an album I will come back to for more listens. I must also give kudos to the band for raising money for RNIB and producing a lyric book in brail. A nice touch.
