Welcome back, Snow Patrol.

It’s been two years since the band has released anything new and with cautious optimism, the fans will be generally pleased although not overly joyful since the Jan. 10 U.S. release.
Striking up emotion through music was never a problem for front man Gary Lightbody. Once known as a brilliant lyricist, he created wonderfully relatable music in the past with Snow Patrol’s albums “Up to Now,” “Eyes Open” and “A Hundred Million Suns.” Though he didn’t top his own work this year, he did pull together a couple of pretty good numbers.
“Called Out In The Dark” starts out just where it should, with a strong, simple beat. It then leads into an even more interesting sound, creating an urge just strong enough to make someone want to tap their foot and slightly boob their head. Even though the words, “This is your life; this is your time,” nothing is overdone. When they are paired with Snow Patrols’s great sound, they become much more inspiring than anticipated.
Depending on the track, Snow Patrol’s sound may seem familiar to its normal one or it may differ drastically, something a little more unrecognizable. Track three, “The Weight Of Love,” is on the newer side of things. This song introduces a slightly more techno sound wrapped with an outstanding climb to the peak of the lyrics.
Even though the album as a whole should be, and for the majority is, deemed a success, the disappointment is still to come.
Track 5, “The Garden Rules,” and track 9, “New York,” lack the individuality to differentiate between the two. Rather than creating two different songs, it is slightly more believable that the band wrote one and tweaked it to make the second.
Still, overall “Fallen Empires” has much more to notice than the weaknesses. The album entices all emotions a passionate soul will enjoy. The lyrics inspire as well surprise the audience with wisdom of life that must be shared. Snow Patrol’s change in sound worked for them, and there is no second guess about the success of their latest album.
After about 17 years of playing music together and five different line-ups compiling the band one could believe, they finally found their home, and “Fallen Empires” was just enough to prove that.
By Sonya Francis