Album Review: Spectrum 7 - So Silent The Night

Having kicked around the Surrey and Hampshire music scene for the last few years, Spectrum 7 are a band that have always showed promise but never quite settled on the sound they were looking for. ‘So Silent the Night’ is the bands debut mini album on Xtra Mile Records (The Xcerts, Frank Turner) since signing for the renowned label earlier this summer and offers a great chance to see the direction they are heading in.

Kicking off with ‘Blue Wray’, the debut single from the record, the band seem to have nailed it! Possibly one of the best songs they’ve written to date, it offers a great start to the album. This song has everything you could ever want in a great alternative tune, infectious samples, distorted guitars, a catchy as hell chorus, emotive vocals and insane drum fills, what’s not to like?? It even has hand claps. There is one complaint about this track, it’s too short. At only 3:33 minutes you find yourself instantly reaching for the repeat button. I could literally listen to this song all day.

Unfortunately with next track ‘Frozen’ things calm down a bit, but by no way do they do sour. The song cruises along with some nice harmonies and the band instantly show another side to themselves, a more chilled relaxed Spectrum 7 that continues to keep your attention.

The album’s title track, ‘So Silent the Night’ kicks in with a funky disco beat before those distorted guitars come flooding in to show some balls. The vocal harmonies really get going and stand out as a massive strong point for me on this track with lead singer Jason Mirchandani pouring his heart out with his passionate vocal delivery.

After another more down tempo offering with ‘September’ we get ‘Everything I Learnt at School was a Lie’ to up the ante once more with its huge chorus and some intense drumming by Graeme Healy keeping it all tied together, its probably one of the best and most assured drumming displays I’ve heard from a British band since the mighty Meet Me in St Louis disappeared.

The album finishes as well as it starts with the brilliant ‘Serafin’, an older track that’s been given a make over. Once more this track shows all of Spectrum 7’s strengths and very few weaknesses. It’s catchy and insanely intense at the same time and a sure fire hit for the live show. They’ve managed to capture a real energy in this track which many bands struggle to get onto recordings.

I used to think that Spectrum 7 were basically Funeral For a Friend with electro beats, and although I still think this isn’t a bad comparison to make I feel it is slightly lazy as they have so much more to offer than that. This album is instant and although it does have a bit of filler here and there on the whole it’s an excellent first offering from a band I expect to go onto bigger and better things now they have label backing. If you unleashed Spectrum 7 into an established studio with one a big gun producer on a monster budget then I think they would literally blow you away. Watch this space!

4/5

'So Silent The Night' by Spectrum 7 will be released on October 26th on Xtra Mile Recordings via iTunes and other major DSPs.

Spectrum 7 on MySpace

Matt Buck