Tonight Alive; The Other Side

Kirsty Armitage

Australian pop-rock 5 piece Tonight Alive are back with their second album and follow-up to What Are You So Scared Of?

The Other Side, released on the 6^th of September through Fearless Records, displays a growing maturity in the band. The album is altogether darker, doling out deeper lyrics coupled with some catchy tunes.

The first single from the album, ‘Lonely Girl’, is a perfect example, displaying lyrics about a girl who has made the wrong choices in life and feels like she is going in the wrong direction.

Even on the first track of the album, ‘The Ocean’, you can hear the new depth to Tonight Alive – ‘And I feel paralyzed, been cut down to size. I hardly have the strength, to open up my eyes’ – hardly sugar-coated reassurances.

‘Hell and Back’ is a highlight. It showcases Jenna McDougall’s astounding vocals, accompanied well by some sound guitar work and straight up drumming. However, the absolute standout on The Other Side is ‘Come Home’. The song is a refreshing change to the heavy ballads and feels really upbeat; balancing out the darker tracks and offering some relief.

It’s all too easy to focus on McDougall’s vocals in this album, but a moment should be spared for the other band members. Whakaio Taahi’s guitar performance is above average for this genre and he lends his own touch to each track.

Jake Hardy also puts in a strong performance with the rhythm guitar, especially on ‘The Fire’ – another winning track that’s faster and features a catchy rhythm section.

Cam Adler had his work cut out on the bass, underpinning the darker tone that runs throughout the album. Similarly, the solid presence of drummer Matt Best, is integral to the whole album. He creates some epic fills and is the backbone to The Other Side.

The only real criticism I have of this record is that some of the tracks are quite same-y and the sound is not ground-breakingly new. Yes, everyone has said, but you just can’t escape the obvious, Tonight Alive draw a very strong comparison with Paramore. Not because they are fronted by a vocally strong female, but because they actually do sound like Paramore.

This is not necessarily a bad thing – Paramore are hugely popular – and at least Tonight Alive are working to develop their sound.

There will always be people to draw the comparison, but I think Tonight Alive have managed to produce a slick second album that demonstrates they mean business and that The Other Side is one of many album successes we’ll see from this young band.