Album Review: fun. - Some Nights

Passing down the pop aesthetic from The Format down to fun., Nate Ruess has only shown progression since the awe-inspiring "Dog Problems" which was laden with insanely catchy songs counteracted with lyrics which only described their bitterness towards the music industry which they felt shun them (listen to: "The Compromise"). When fun. came along, it truly felt like a supergroup was formed, featuring Nate Ruess alongside Jack Antonoff of Steel Train and Andrew Dost from Anathallo.

The track opens with a theatrical introduction aptly titled "Some Nights (Intro)," the hauntingly sparse piano featured in the song doesn't take anything away from Ruess' wide vocal range which hits new spaces, lyrically Ruess picks up on where he left off with "Aim & Ignite," the self deprecation featured in that album is topped with the repeated phrase, "Have you listened to me lately? I've been going crazy." It is with the final reprise of "Some Nights (Intro)" in this song where you truly know how powerful Ruess' delivery can be. Immediately following this is the song "Some Nights" which develops upon the introduction with Ruess' vocals being processed in a vocoder which creates a bigger anthemic sound followed by some insanely infectious backing vox.

"Why Am I The One" wreaks of that third single smell. A giant ballad topped with subtle orchestration to compliment guitarist Jack Antonoff's simple guitar riff. Whilst "One Foot," on the other hand, is the complete opposite a bombastic immediate anthem, complete with brass ensemble where Ruess delivers the perfect bitter one liner, "I will die for my own sins, thanks a lot". "Stars" summarizes Ruess' alienation with his new found fame since "Aim & Ignite" alongside a lyric describing an awkward encounter on the street with a fan; the line "I feel like I had it all back before I lost it all" really hits home and begs for empathy or some form of consolation.

fun. are a band who continue to write lyrics from the bottom of their subconscious but counter it with a pop aesthetic, their debut "Aim & Ignite" was laden with string orchestration but this record feels a lot more stripped back and less complex. The use of vocoder on songs such as "Some Nights" and "Stars" shows progression in the band's musical ability as well as their ability to write simple modern pop songs. Come five years from now, the band will be selling out arenas so make sure you catch them performing in the clubs while you still can.

5/5

"Some Nights" is out now on Fueled By Ramen.

George Gadd