User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
- Summary: The third full-length release for the Canadian Juno-award winning band was produced by Dave Schiffman.
Buy Now
- Record Label: Glassnote Entertainment Group
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 4 out of 7
-
Mixed: 3 out of 7
-
Negative: 0 out of 7
-
Apr 27, 2016As with so many flashy and polished pieces, often the initial effect far outweighs the real underlying substance. For now, though, we’re just going to have to enjoy Hope for what it is: an insanely catchy record from an indie-pop juggernaut that has likely just set the standard for radio-friendly folk.
-
Apr 27, 2016Between the giant, smiley singalongs, there’s a little more darkness than the band’s sound suggests. The verses grapple with impulses toward destruction and self-destruction. “If I weren’t so selfish/I could hear your calls for help,” Mr. Ward sings in “I Still Make Her Cry.” But it’s rarely long before another huge chorus arrives to banish all misgivings.
-
Apr 27, 2016This record is less about individual musical performances and more about big, uncluttered sound.
-
Jul 26, 2016The piano ballad "I Still Make Her Cry" stands as the lone truly intimate moment of the record which, despite its enthusiastic choruses, harbors reflective, self-doubting lyrics.
-
Apr 27, 2016Ward's writing--though universal and singalongable--sometimes suffers from vagueness and clichéd rhymes. He should have a bit more faith in his audience, because Hope is most interesting when it strays a little from this formula.
-
Q MagazineJul 26, 2016It's annoyingly catchy. [Sep 2016, p.113]
-
Aug 25, 2016As the album proceeds, the band’s strident Mumfordry becomes all too wearing, these songs patently designed more for festival singalong than introspective reflection.
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 1 out of 1
-
Mixed: 0 out of 1
-
Negative: 0 out of 1
-
Oct 20, 2016
-