Album Review: The Faim - 'Talk Talk'
A brand new stadium-rock filled album just came out, written and released by Australian rock quartet The Faim, ‘Talk Talk’ is an 11-track collection of thumping, shimmering and thrilling tracks!
‘madly, badly, fixed’ is a convincing pop rock track, a grand opening to what follows, like curtains being drawn, exposing a stage that is set for a grand show. With ‘The Hills’, The Faim solidify their sound in the form of a superb anthemic rock track driven by passionate vocals! ‘Talk Talk’ is their second album to date and is drenched in determination and melodic pop-infused rock tracks. The band previously played Reading and Leeds, sold out headline shows around the world and on ‘You (and my Addiction)’ show a sneak peek on how they achieved this with only two albums to their name. It is their versatile sound that combines influences that speak to every single one of us, with ‘The Alchemist’ being a good example for us folk pop fans, being a sweet and slower paced song that leans against the pop song cliche.
‘Life in a Cinema’ had to grow on me due to its pop punk-like intro, but one minute in the track changes into something more refined and less needy, with lyrics I am already chanting along after having listened just twice. Number six on the album, ‘Faith In Me’, is an instant favourite, an eccentric, catchy and less hurried sound driven by sharper vocals and thumping drums. It’s an almost theatrical piece, but it suits the band that released their debut album only three years ago! Throughout, the album becomes more and more progressive, as if I am listening through a timeline of the band forming, by ‘Ease My Mind’ they truly sound like a well-oiled machine.
Bassist and keyboard player Stephen expands on the band’s foundation: “You’ll never get anything fake from us, our hearts and souls are on our sleeves 100 percent of the time. We want to keep things true to how we started. We do this because we love music, and we want to play music and that’s it. There are no ulterior motives.” With ‘Me Because Of You’ they continue on the theme of wearing their hearts on their sleeves, it’s a passionate and heartfelt love song with an electro-driven background that gives the album more depth and adds another genre to the list of influences. About this single, Stephen says: “this was written about embracing change and letting go of a past version of yourself, and the lyrics recognise the huge impact that someone else can have on the process. The song was also a huge milestone for us, as it’s our first release that has been completely self-produced.”
Touching on themes of nostalgia, celebration, escapism and self-discovery, single ‘Flowers’ is the most rocking one - surprisingly - and another talking about growing out of old habits and into new ones. We lift the tempo, raise the temperature with before-last single ‘Jealous Love’, leaning mostly against an alternative pop sound, being refreshing and powerful! ‘ERA’ is the subtly ecstatic closer of the album, a thought out, almost hesitant track with a focus on those explicit vocals that after having listened to this album from beginning till the end we would recognise out of a thousand! The band are clearly embracing their sound, bringing all their energy not just to the stage but also to the recording process and hopefully we will be able to catch the band live soon. We will have plenty of opportunities as they are touring and performing at many a festival in the upcoming months!
Words by Laura Rosierse
