Black Lines

Black Lines
Studio album by Mayday Parade
Released October 9, 2015
Recorded March–May 2015,
Dreamland Recording Studios
Woodstock, New York
Genre Emo, emo-pop, pop punk, rock
Length 44:06
Label Fearless
Producer Mike Sapone
Mayday Parade chronology
Monsters in the Closet
(2013)		 Black Lines
(2015)
Singles from Black Lines
  1. "Keep in Mind, Transmorgrification Is a New Technology"
    Released: July 31, 2015
  2. "Letting Go"
    Released: October 2, 2015

Black Lines is the fifth studio album by American rock band Mayday Parade. Recording was done between March and May 2015 with producer Mike Sapone in New York. "Keep in Mind, Transmorgrification Is a New Technology" was released as a single in July. "Letting Go" was released as a single in October with the album, released through Fearless, following shortly after. The album charted at number 21 in the U.S.

Background

Mayday Parade released their fourth album, Monsters in the Closet in October 2013.[1] While touring in support of that release, vocalist Derek Sanders thought the group was "beginning to become too predictable".[2] He mentioned Monsters in the Closest as sounding "very similar" to their past material.[2] A view also shared by the band's guitarist, Alex Garcia.[3] For the follow-up album, Sanders "really wanted [it] to feel like something different."[2] A turning point for the band came when they recorded a cover of the Bush song "Comedown" for the Punk Goes 90s Vol. 2 (2014) compilation album.[2] The band tackled the song differently from their other recordings, recording it live-in-the-studio.[2] Sanders thought this was "a much rawer way of recording" that the band haven't previously done.[2]

Composition

While the group, according to Garcia, "experiment[ed] with co-writers" in the past, they wanted to "become more internal",[3] writing all of the songs on Black Lines by themselves.[4] Kerrang! writer Paul Travers noted that while the band's past works were collections of pop rock songs, Black Lines had "a rawer, grittier sound with a more dynamic approach" to song structures.[2] The album's sound has been described as emo,[5] emo-pop,[6] pop punk[7] and rock.[8] "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" features guest vocals from Real Friends' vocalist Dan Lambton.[9] "Letting Go" is about "self pity and not having the strength to get over a bad relationship. It's about that weird spot when someone breaks you down even though you know they're toxic."[10]

Recording

In March 2015 the band started recording[11] at Dreamland Recording Studios near Woodstock, New York with producer Mike Sapone.[4] The studio was in fact a converted church.[3] Guitarist Brooks Betts used his Fender Telecaster guitar, which has been used on all of the band's albums, while Garcia used his Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars.[3] The pair used a Marshall JCM800 amplifier.[3] The pair used a number of effects pedals and frequently "switch[ed] them out", according to Garcia.[3] One of two specific pedals they used was the Supermoon Reverb, which Garica "absolute love[d]".[3] The other being the Kilobyte, which was used to create a lot of the ambient sounds heard on "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Hollow".[3] Despite this, they wanted to "avoid cluttering the sound" as much as possible.[3]

Lambton recorded his vocals for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" while Real Friends had an off-day from touring.[12] The initial plan for the song was to have Lambton and Sanders do call and response vocals throughout it.[12] On May 21, it was announced the band had finished recording.[13] All of the songs were mixed by Vince Ratti, expect for "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing", which was mixed by Sapone.[4] Claudius Mittendorfer and Sapone engineered the proceedings, with assistance from Zachary Casper and Bella Blasks.[4] Stephen Marcussen mastered the album.[4]

Release

On July 17, 2015 Black Lines was announced for release, with the track listing and cover art revealed.[14] The artwork was done by Wolfstache with art direction from Florian Mihr.[4] On July 30,[15] "Keep in Mind, Transmorgrification Is a New Technology" was made available for streaming.[16] A video for the song features an artist re-creating the album's cover art.[17] A day later, it was released as a single.[18] On August 28, a music video was released for "One of Them Will Destroy the Other",[19] directed by Caleb Mallery.[20] On October 1, "Letting Go" was made available for streaming,[21] and was released as single a day later.[22] Black Lines was released on October 9 through Fearless.[23][nb 1] In October and November, the band is set to headline the 2015 edition of the Alternative Press tour,[17] with support from Real Friends, As It Is, and This Wild Life.[25]

In January and February 2016, the band went on a tour of Europe and the UK,[26] with support from The Maine, Have Mercy and Beautiful Bodies.[27] In March and April, the band went on a co-headlining U.S. tour with The Maine with support from Better Off.[28] The band are set to go on the 2016 edition of Warped Tour.[29]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk8.5/10[30]
Alternative Addiction[8]
Alternative PressFavorable[31]
Contactmusic3.5/5[32]
idobi7/10[33]
theMusic[5]
Ultimate Guitar Archive7.3/10[7]

The album charted at number 21 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart[34] and at number 32 in Australia.[35] Sam Law of Kerrang! wrote the album highlighted the band's "absolute best bits", specifically mentioning "Hollow", "Underneath the Ride" and "All on Me".[36] Law pondered about "Hit singles" before concluding the group does not need "them when your record's as good as this throughout."[36] Writing for Rock Sound, Mischa Pearlman wrote the band showed off "their versatility [...] to varying degrees of success."[6] In some songs, such as "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" and "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology", the group "cruise[d] comfortably [...] in full-on emo-pop mode."[6] In others, namely "Hollow" and "All on Me", the band are "far more interesting and exciting."[6] Overall, Pearlman closed with mention this "all makes for an ultimately uneven and unfocused journey, but one still worth investigating".[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Mayday Parade.[4]

  1. "One of Them Will Destroy the Other" (feat. Dan Lambton) – 3:10
  2. "Just Out of Reach" – 3:43
  3. "Hollow" – 3:12
  4. "Letting Go" – 3:50
  5. "Let's Be Honest" – 3:51
  6. "Keep in Mind, Transmogrification Is a New Technology" – 5:27
  7. "Narrow" – 3:07
  8. "Underneath the Tide" – 2:51
  9. "All on Me" – 4:15
  10. "Until You're Big Enough" – 3:15
  11. "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing" – 2:51
  12. "One of Us" – 4:27

Personnel

Personnel per back panel.[4]

Mayday Parade
Additional musicians
  • Dan Lambton (of Real Friends) – additional vocals on "One of Them Will Destroy the Other"
Production
  • Mike Sapone – producer; mixing on "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing"; engineer
  • Vince Ratti – mixing on all songs except "Look Up and See Infinity, Look Down and See Nothing"
  • Claudius Mitttendorfer – engineer
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Zachary Casper – first assistant engineer
  • Bella Blasks – second assistant engineer
  • Wolfstache – artwork
  • Florian Mihr – art direction, layout

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[37] 32
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[38] 9
US Billboard 200[34] 21
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[39] 1

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ U.S. Fearless FRL 30217[24]
Citations
  1. ↑ Beringer, Drew (July 29, 2013). "Mayday Parade Announce New Album". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Travers 2016, p. 42
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sharma, Amit (September 25, 2015). "Mayday Parade's Alex Garcia talks new album Black Lines". MusicRadar. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Black Lines (Back panel). Mayday Parade. Fearless. 2015. FRL30217-2.
  5. 1 2 Beresford, Mark (October 12, 2015). "Mayday Parade Black Lines". theMusic. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Pearlman 2015, p. 86
  7. 1 2 UG Team (October 23, 2015). "Black Lines Review | Mayday Parade | Compact Discs | Reviews". Ultimate Guitar Archive. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Album Review of Black Lines by Mayday Parade". Alternative Addiction. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ Sayce, Rob (September 2, 2015). "Mayday Parade + Dan From Real Friends = This Song". Rock Sound. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  10. ↑ James (October 2, 2015). "Hear The New Mayday Parade Song, Letting Go". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  11. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (May 21, 2015). "Mayday Parade finish recording new album". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Richman, Jesse (October 16, 2015). "Real Friends’ Dan Lambton talks Mayday Parade collaboration, AP Tour, more". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ Tate, Jason (May 21, 2015). "Mayday Parade Finish Recording". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  14. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (July 17, 2015). "Mayday Parade announce new album, 'Black Lines'". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ Tate, Jason (July 30, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream New Song". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  16. ↑ Emily (July 31, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream New Single, Keep In Mind…". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Payne, Chris (July 30, 2015). "Mayday Parade Premieres Awesome First Song Off New Album 'Black Lines': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Keep in Mind, Transmorgrificatio... | Mayday Parade". 7digital. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ Tate, Jason (August 28, 2015). "Mayday Parade Share "One Of Them Will Destroy The Other" Video". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Mayday Parade | One of Them Will Destroy the Other | Music Video". MTV. September 23, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ Tate, Jason (October 1, 2015). "Mayday Parade Stream "Letting Go"". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Letting Go (2015) | Mayday Parade". 7digital. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  23. ↑ Emily (July 20, 2015). "Mayday Parade To Release New Album, Black Lines". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Black Lines - Mayday Parade | Release Info". AllMusic. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ Paul, Aubin. "Tours: Mayday Parade / Real Friends / As It Is / This Wild Life". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  26. ↑ Emily (August 11, 2015). "Mayday Parade Announce Black Lines 2016 Headline Tour". Kerrang!. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  27. ↑ Sayce, Rob (October 1, 2015). "Here’s A New Mayday Parade Song". Rock Sound. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  28. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (December 16, 2015). "Mayday Parade, the Maine announce co-headlining tour". Alternative Press. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  29. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (March 22, 2016). "First 10 bands announced for Warped Tour 2016". Alternative Press. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  30. ↑ Beringer, Drew. "Mayday Parade - Black Lines - Album Review". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  31. ↑ Richman, Jesse (December 8, 2015). "Mayday Parade explore grittier sound in new album - Reviews". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  32. ↑ Brannon, Sophie (October 19, 2015). "Mayday Parade | Black Lines Album Review". Contactmusic. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  33. ↑ Pierangelo, Hannah (October 14, 2015). "Album Review: Mayday Parade - Black Lines". idobi. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  34. 1 2 "Mayday Parade – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Mayday Parade. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  35. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (October 17, 2015). "ARIA Albums: Boy & Bear 'Limit of Love' Debuts at No 1". Noise11. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  36. 1 2 Law 2015, p. 53
  37. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Mayday Parade – Black Lines". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Mayday Parade – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Mayday Parade. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
Sources
  • Law, Sam (10 October 2015). McMahon, James, ed. "Reviews". Kerrang! (London: Bauer Media Group) (1589). ISSN 0262-6624. 
  • Pearlman, Mischa (October 2015). Bird, Ryan, ed. "Reviews". Rock Sound (London: Freeway Press Inc.) (205). ISSN 1465-0185. 
  • Travers, Paul (9 January 2015). McMahon, James, ed. "Reaching for Greatness". Kerrang! (London: Bauer Media Group) (1601). ISSN 0262-6624. 

External links

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