In their seventh studio album, alternative band Mayday Parade makes an emotional statement about the power of relationships and memories. Originating from Tallahassee, Florida, Mayday Parade has been making powerful music for years with their intense lyrics and real emotions. 

Kids of Summer: The first track of the album was also the first single released, and for good reason. This track is reminiscent of their older albums that focused on guitar and drum features. The lyrics are fast and fun, with lyrics you can scream along to like “Our love was so strong, Let’s do it all again and make new scars” in the chorus.

Golden Days: This track was the third single for the album and features powerful lyrics like “I need a reason and I hope it’s legit to sing loud and from the heart” which starts the trend of reminiscing on their older lyrical themes in their previous albums. The meta nature of writing lyrics about singing and song-writing creates a personal connection between Mayday Parade’s lyrics and their emotions which resonates with their quickly-growing fanbase. 

Think Of You: This track is the first of the album with the band’s classic acoustic sound. It also has extremely powerful lyrics that made me very emotional when it was released as the album’s fourth single. Lyrics like “But the thought of every part of you is worth the brutal pain” showcase the painful nature of relationships and breakups despite Derek Sanders’ upbeat vocals. 

If My Ghosts Don’t Play, I Don’t Play: This track is composed of a really cool classic rock sound from their older albums like “A Lesson in Romantics”. It also has strong guitar and drum features, and the title reminds me of the single “Ghosts” from their fifth album “Monsters in the Closet”. The lyrics are pointed and a little dark like their older music, especially in the second verse with “God, so this is all that’s left of me, A ghost that’s cursed to never leave” – also mirroring the lyrics from “Ghosts”. 

Sideways: This track has really fun lyrics and an upbeat classic sound, similar to the first track “Kids of Summer”. Also similar to the rest of the album, the instrumentals of this track have great rhythm and a nice groove. The lyrics themselves are meaningful, with lines such as “In love it’s only chemical…Turning me sideways” and “I wanna break down and shatter

I wanna feel hollowed”, which emphasizes the track’s message about painful breakups – as well as reminiscing on the older track “Hollow” from “Black Lines”. 

One For The Rocks And One For The Scary: As the track with the most ‘classic’ Mayday Parade sound, this song follows the theme of emotional devotion to a relationship. The vocals and acoustic guitar are very similar to their previous albums “Black Lines” and “Sunnyland”. The lyrics are also meaningful in their own right, especially with “Trying to picture what it looks like when you smile at me that way, with the heaviness and sadness in your eyes”. 

Bad At Love: “Bad At Love” is heart-wrenching in the most beautiful way possible, and hits home in the terms of being in a toxic relationship but unwilling to leave. The lyrics “Tell me before we burn out, what will you do with me now?” are devastating and follow the previous track’s message about devotion and toxicity in love. 

Notice: My favorite feature of this track is the recurring theme of “writing a song” like in their older lyrics, specifically in songs such as “If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?” The classic sound of this track is also a callback to their older music with a fresh twist in the clear vocals that frontman Derek presents. 

Heaven: This is a short track with repetitive lyrics, but great rhythms even though the instrumentals are a newer “techno” sound for the band. 

Angels Die Too: This track is a reminder of the track “Angels” from the album “Monsters in the Closet”, but the emotional lyrics directly reference their most recent album “Sunnyland” with “Out in Sunnyland we got caught so bad in the storm again”. The piano track pairs beautifully with the somber vocals that Derek presents and makes for another heart-breaking track on this album. 

You Not Me: This track continues the upbeat instrumentals and fun lyrics that mimic the band’s older music. Lines such as “Maybe it’s time we cut this off, Disposable love” and the entire chorus are iconic lyrics that add to the fun sound of this break-up track. 

I Can’t Do This Anymore: somber instrumental start, vocals are clear and lyrics have the classic Mayday Parade sound. The emotional vocals are heart-breaking and add to the theme of the emotional power of being in a relationship. The lyrics “Inside, it almost feels like I’ve been here once before, And I can’t do this anymore” mirror the fun of the opening track and end the album on an emotionally reflective note. 

This track earns 4.5 out of 5 sails. Being my favorite band, Mayday Parade brings a great album with powerful emotions packed into meaningful lyrics and purposeful instrumentals. They have fun hinting at older tracks and albums to create a strong connection between all of the music throughout their discography. 

___

For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact editor@unfspinnaker.com.