Even though they had success with their debut album, The View never managed to capitalize it in a right way. They are always somewhere near but they just can’t seem to rise to the top indie bands from The Island. The reason for it is to be found in many directions. Maybe Kyle is a bit problematic, maybe not all of their albums are high quality, maybe they have the wrong record label, maybe they are just not lucky. Whatever it is, the important thing is that they are still with us and they gave us their fifth album.
Ropewalk brings ten songs and I can say that I felt significant upgrade of maturity in comparison to their previous works. They are hungry and they put some extra juices on their sound. The songs sound more heavy, with occasional synths, so fan base of Editors should really appreciate this record.
Still, this is still a classic The View album. Guys know how to write beautiful and melodic songs lead by choruses. Not the whole album is like that but it functions ok. It will be interesting to see which singles will be released.
Some songs stand out from the rest. In my opinion, these are definitely Living, Cracks and House Of Queens. The last one is pretty unusual for their discography. The change of sound may be brought by Alber Hammond Jr (The Strokes) who produced the album. Knowing what he’s been up to lately, it is clear that he made The View sound more polished.
Fifth album is not something that will make big difference in their career. Fun songs with accent on parties. At the same time, Kyle is the biggest advantage and the biggest flaw of the band. Having all the above in mind, maybe it’s clearer now why The View is not more important.
