Life on the road must give young men old souls, because YMAS are in a darker place for album number four.
And they wear the colour well: Josh Franceschi's yearning melodies make these songs feel instantly familiar and the personal emotion resonates. Max Helyer and Chris Miller have got their chiming arena delay on amid the surging rhythms of Lived A Lie, brooding with the ringing arpeggios on Forgive And Forget and the appropriately titled Room To Breathe. There are no growing pains to be found for them here, but there should be bigger venues on the horizon.
4 out of 5
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
"There was water dripping onto the gear and we got interrupted by a cave diver": How Mandy, Indiana recorded their debut album in caves, crypts and shopping malls
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
"There was water dripping onto the gear and we got interrupted by a cave diver": How Mandy, Indiana recorded their debut album in caves, crypts and shopping malls
