ATP! Album Review: Further Seems Forever – Penny Black

Some of you have been waiting almost twelve years for this record to come out. To set the minds of those people at ease: the wait may have been long, but it is totally worth every second. Further Seems Forever is back with "Penny Black" - the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2001’s "The Moon is Down” - and all the anxiety and expectation that diehard fans have accumulated over the years melts away within seconds.

“Penny Black” opens with debut single, ‘So Cold’ - a track which spotlights the sharp, clean guitar work of Joshua Colbert and Nick Dominguez while Chris Carrabba displays his renowned vocal skills: weaving back and forth from the low-key verses to belting out the title phrase at unfathomably high notes during the chorus. Drummer Steve Kleisath is given some creative space on ‘Rescue Trained’, where a huge, powerful chorus – which sounds almost like something by The Killers – follows the catchy rhythms created by bassist Chad Neptune.

One of the highlights of “Penny Black” is ‘Staring Down the Sun’ - an upbeat summer night-feeling love lament (“These days run through each other/Just the thought of you alone makes me suffer/When all I ever really wanted was your love,”) with harmonized vocals during the chorus playing with a similar falsetto style found on ‘So Cold’. Balancing their more melodic, soft-flowing tendencies with a remarkably dramatic side, the weight of “Penny Black” increases with the rougher, more aggressive track ‘Way Down’ (here listeners can distinguish the source of inspiration gathered by bands like Anberlin). Continuing this darker tone, ‘Rusted Machines’ has Carrabba, Colbert, and Dominguez all sounding mysterious and brooding until Carrabba contrasts that feeling by lulling the listener with the soothing phrase, “Rest yourself at ease my little girl/These troubles will bind us and our souls like rusted machines.”

The title track is introduced with an interesting drum roll that leads into a more dramatic Alternative Rock sound, with each segment of the song gradually swelling to a crescendo until Carrabba chants, “This search is sanctified/ We find it side by side,” toward the end, slowly moving the album forward before closing with ‘Janie’ - a completely stripped-down acoustic track that can easily comfort anyone into a gentle slumber.

It has been a long time coming for Further Seems Forever. The band has seen numerous line-up changes and a whole lot of uncertainty these past few years. “Penny Black” determines their readiness to get back out there and create the sound they have always strived for.

4.5/5

Melissa Jones

"Penny Black" will be released on October 23rd through Rise Records.