So last night I got my hands on Sinners Never Sleep, the newest album from Surrey-based YM@6. If anyone was hoping for more of the same, they might have a bit of shock. It definitely sounds like a You Me At Six album but the songs take a while to get going unlike some of their earlier material. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – with such a distinctive voice and energetic style, they’ve always been one of my go-to bands and will remain that way. Even though their sort of pop/rock/post-hardcore might not be everyone’s favourite flavour of ice cream, these boys seem to not give a shit and have clearly got today’s young people on board.
With a healthy blend of soft songs that people might compare to Always Attract and Tigers and Sharks but slightly less of the upbeat stuff like Save it for the Bedroom and Take off your Colours, fans might be a bit split. Keeping the same sort of headstrong attitude and clever lyrics and musicianship, the band once again show off their diversity and talent for just getting people out of their chairs but have taken the time to build their songs up from the beginning rather than diving right in. Look out for cameos from Parkway Drive and Bring Me The Horizon‘s vocalists, which might either offend or delight, depending on your particular taste in metal. Personally, I sorta enjoy You Me At Six without that screaming lark, but nevermind. It’s clear they’ve been listening to other bands and taking influences, but the overall sound is very much like they’ve always had. If anyone knows of We Are The Ocean, there are some very strong similarities there.
If you’ve been keeping up to date, you’ll know that Loverboy is filled with the kind of scathing remarks that we like to hear from You Me At Six. The Dilemma is a kind of sound we’ve not really heard that much from the boys so far. I know this might be a bit of a marmite point, but I reckon the band have taken a great deal of influence from their tour-mates Paramore. A tiny element of funk in some of their riffs, some more slow-tempo songs and more melodic vocals. Little Death (if any of you paid attention in French class, you’ll know that la petite mort is a metaphor for ‘orgasm’) is a soft reflection with a rock feel but a much more emotional approach and some fine work on the bass. Their single from a while back Rescue Me is definitely an indicator of what this album should sound like when you first hear it,… without the rap.
Be sure to either preorder or just buy this bad boy when it comes out on the 3rd of Oct. I definitely wasn’t disappointed when I plugged into it this morning. In my arbitrary scale of goodness numbers, it scores a 12.53 out of 14 but with a controversy factor of 3.
I wish I could post up the whole album here, but I reckon the boys might get a bit pissed so here are my stand-out tracks and keep your eyes open for Jaws on the Floor and Little Bit of Truth in particular.
Stand-out track: You Me At Six – The Dilemma
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Stand-out track: You Me At Six – No One Does It Better
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