OK Go has not released an album since 2010. The hiatus has ended with the release of this new album, Hungry Ghosts. Prior to the album's release, the Upside Out EP dropped, containing four tracks from the new album: "Turn Up The Radio", "The Writing's On The Wall", "I Won't Let You Down", and "The One Moment".
The album starts off very strong with the one-two-punch of "Upside Down &OK Go has not released an album since 2010. The hiatus has ended with the release of this new album, Hungry Ghosts. Prior to the album's release, the Upside Out EP dropped, containing four tracks from the new album: "Turn Up The Radio", "The Writing's On The Wall", "I Won't Let You Down", and "The One Moment".
The album starts off very strong with the one-two-punch of "Upside Down & Inside Out" and "The Writing's On The Wall". "Upside Down" Is a fantastic opener, which is fast and full of distorted, stuttering vocals that reveal a shouting chorus that is quite memorable. "The Writing's On The Wall" is a wonderful second track that fits right into the album. Its sound is huge,with the majority of the instrumentation coming from the bass. Its lyrical content spawns lines such as "...the mind has no say in affairs of the heart", as well as many other "deep" thoughts spawned from breakups.
While the album's singles do an excellent job of keeping the album afloat, some of the songs on the album tend to get repetitive and boring. "Another Set of Issues" is a track that I have found myself skipping due to the repetition of the same few lines which are, towards the song's closed, played on top of each other. "I'm Not Through" is definitely nothing special, but is good for a few listens. The same could be said about "Bright As Your Eyes".
"Turn Up The Radio" is definitely a high point on this album, and is followed by "Obsession". "Obsession" is a song that took me a while to enjoy, but has grown on me and is now one of my favourites. This track is simple, with a looping guitar chord progression and Damian Kulash's almost-whispered vocals. The chorus is quite hook-y, and makes this song one of the best on the record.
The album climaxes with its eighth and ninth tracks, "I Won't Let You Down" and "The One Moment". Both of these songs were previously released on the EP. While the former of the two can be repetitive, it is a breath of fresh, disco influenced air. The latter might be one of (if not the) best song on the album. "The One Moment" has been compared in structure to a U2 song, which is certainly not a bad thing. The track includes more guitar than synth (synth takes over much of the record), and also incorporates some piano chords thrown in. The chorus is wonderful and memorable, and is an excellent climax to Hungry Ghosts.
The final three tracks of Hungry Ghosts are "If I Had A Mountain", "The Great Fire", and "Lullaby". "Mountain" is definitely the best of the three closing tracks, sporting emotionally driven vocals and catchy melodies. "The Great Fire" is synth-heavy and features somewhat memorable lyrics and vocals, and breaks away in the middle for a slow, harmonized guitar solo. "Lullaby" is an interesting closing track. It is driven by acoustic guitars, making it the only acoustic track on the album. The melancholy guitar present in the first few seconds reminded me of Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys)'s solo work on the soundtrack for the film "Submarine". Any similarity is then done away with as slow, harmonized, floaty vocals tell us to go to sleep. While this track is certainly not the strongest on the album, it manages to do a good job of closing the 12-song record. Especially if you're listening to the album while trying to sleep.… Expand