The Winter Passing - New Ways of Living

Right, am starting this up again for the 14 days quarantine I have to do after returning to the UK from Spain (even though people who arrive from the 10th won't legally have to at all).

So let's get to it, with this album just released on Friday...

On my first listen to opener "Ghost Thing", I had this pegged as a punk Paramore. Then, on "The Street and the Stranger", I got mostly post-rock. By the time I got to 3rd song "Melt", and the unmistakable vocals of Stu Daly (from Chewing on Tinfoil) kicked in, I was hooked, and have been listening to this pretty constantly since its release on Friday. This is The Winter Passing's second album, but it's the first time these Dubliners have popped up on my radar. With probably one of the worst album covers I've seen, they deliver guy/gal dual vocaled emo / punk that ventures into pure pop at times, with a big sound and the odd surprise. The album's emotive intelligence is front and centre, turning up the charm factor on a full-length that for all its nuances can still just flat out rock when it wants to, but also give you the unexpected off-kilter pop of "Crybaby", or the sheer intimacy of "I Want You". And whilst epic emo closer "Mind Yourself" is a bit long in the tooth and drags me back to the lazy "punk Paramore" comparison, this is a record that's endearing, intricate, and drenched in charisma. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 / 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: http://counterintuitiverecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-winter-passing-new-ways-of-living 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 ≥ £𝟳 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: https://bsmrocks.bandcamp.com/album/new-ways-of-living