Azure Ray - Hold on Love

I don't know why people don't love this album more. Sure, it isn't as quiet as the band's first few releases, but even Belle and Sebastian changed their sound with Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Hold on Love marks a change in the Azure Ray sound, but it's certainly not a change for the worse.

The first departure from the established Azure Ray sound are the synths which drop in toward the end of the album opener "The Devil's Feet." The entire song builds to the point where the synths kick in, so the album works to prepare you for a change. All of the songs that follow include electronic instrumentation (particularly percussion) and are somewhat louder and more upbeat (in terms of tempo, not in terms of thematic material) than you would be prepared for if you had been listening to Azure Ray from the beginning.

While Hold on Love is quite a bit different from Azure Ray's other albums, it's still a very good album with a number of very good songs. I really enjoyed it and would welcome more Azure Ray in the same vein, but unfortunately this is where my Azure Ray collection ends. There may be more in my future.

Baleeted? Nope. Azure Ray took a chance, and it works. I dig it.