So whilst 20,000 feet in the air on my way to Amsterdam, I got my ears around This Is Freedom’s debut EP ‘Welcome Home’, which has been work in progress since early 2010 with reputable producer Frankie Torpey. The band recently faced high profile exposure from Kerrang magazine after their feature described the band to have the atmospherics of 30 Seconds To Mars, which is an analogy worth shouting about. They also managed to sneak several plays of their tracks onto critically acclaimed comedy ‘Fresh Meat’ and have shared the stage with the liked of Futures, Lower Than Atlantis, and Paige.
So what’s on offer? The instant hard hitting vibes of opener St. Helena strikes me as a potential stadium anthem. There’s fusions of cutting edge rock sounds along with an infectious chorus which can only make their pop punk influences more evident with elements of bands like You Me At Six coming into play. My personal favourite of the EP has to be next track ‘Bitter’ which opens with the smooth vibes similar to Don Broco’s ‘Beautiful Morning’ which smashes into potentially my favourite chorus of the year. The experienced sounding, unique tones of front man Jay Scott’s vocals and reverb soaked instrumentals spell out serious potential for this track to be echoed round arena sized venues in the near future. Title track ‘Welcome Home’ follows the groove of an indie stomp yet breaches the deep bass lines with a breakaway chorus which reminds me of their previous pop punk elements. This track also shows that Scott’s vocals seem ever more similar to Don Broco frontman, Rob Damiani’s, through low toned verses and soaring choruses. The smooth vibes of ‘Hurricaine’ and pulsing anthem ‘Sticks and Stones’ draw the record to a close in style.
Kerrang correctly stated that this band have the atmospherics comparable to 30 Seconds To Mars and there’s no questions asked about their ability to pump out an infectious chorus. I expect a full studio album in 2012 would see this band flying on a whole new level, with notable confidence and recognition already under their belts this year. I can conclude that This Is Freedom are an exciting band, with more than a few things up their sleeves.
Track Listing
1. St. Helena
2. Bitter
3. Welcome Home
4. Hurricane
5. Sticks and Stones
http://www.facebook.com/thisisfreedommusic
Words by George Fullerton.
