Album Review: Sunlit Youth // Local Natives

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Local Natives have been quickly paving their way through the music industry, and with the upcoming release of their third album, “Sunlit Youth”, the excitement surrounding them is unlikely to cease anytime soon. The LA five-piece consisting of Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Matt Frazier, and Nik Ewing have been cranking out afro-pop influenced music since their inception in 2005. Sunlit Youth is arguably the most awaited album from this group as of yet, and I can promise you that it does not disappoint

The 11 track Album is available for Pre-Order on iTunes pending its release on September 9th, and the tracks “Villainy”, “Past Lives”, and “Fountain of Youth” are already available to listeners. Those three songs are the perfect intro to what is to come on the album. From upbeat songs like Villainy and Coins, to the slower and more melancholy tones in songs such as Dark Days or Mother Emanuel, it really promotes a new image of the new Local Natives, and just exactly what they are trying to achieve with this album.

Villainy is the perfect song to go as track number one. It is quick, upbeat, and the vocals are so smooth that they could cut butter. Villainy gets you excited for the rest of the songs, and no matter where you are when you listen to this song, you can’t help but wish that you are in the middle of driving through a river valley with your hand out of the window and wind rushing through your hair.

Fast Forward to “Coins”. “Coins” sounds very old school when it starts. The grainy voice certainly takes the song in another turn, despite how upbeat the instrumentals might suggest, but it really is a nice change of pace in the album, and it showcases how diverse this band really can be. They stick to their signature sound of afro-pop, but they add their own twist on it, which is really refreshing, and leads you to quickly tap your feet.

As one moves through the album, they are quickly met with the old style upbeat synth-pop that Local Natives are oh so comfortable with. But after you get past the feet tapping tones in tracks like Fountain of Youth or Masters, the album takes a pleasant shift.

When “Mother Emanuel” began to play I honestly thought that my iTunes had accidentally turned on a Catfish and the Bottlemen song instead. It is pleasant to see the step that this group took to make their music more memorable, and by changing the sound near the end of a very, for lack of a better word, ‘poppy’ album is quite the risk, but I am really enjoying it.

Overall, moving through the album was a complete joy. I recommend that anyone who is a fan of Local Natives to buy the album and listen to their new sound. They are attempting to change their music, which is a hard thing to do, but they are still managing to deliver what their listeners want to hear.

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