Album Review: Corella - 'Once Upon A Weekend'
Corella have solidified their craft to deliver an anthemic, boisterous, and attention-grabbing debut.
Corella have delivered their feel-good LP debut at a perfect time. This is a record that feels like it’s built for soundtracking summer. Sometimes, debut albums can feature tracks which feel like it’s been released with an invisible shackle of fear bestowed upon it. But ‘Once Upon A Weekend’ just has the feel of four friends having fun and creating the music that they want to create. The indie quartet who all met at music university BIMM have never looked back, and have spent a considerable amount of time patiently releasing singles and EP’s in the build-up for this release.
If you asked an AI to play summer-soaked indie anthems, then this record would probably tick all the boxes. Virtually every track contains anthemic introductions, with jangling lead guitar, and big choruses. And it’s the choruses which sums up this record and Corella’s progress so far. Each track has different arrangements of choruses, showing a level of skill, maturity and experience. This comes from Corella’s level of patience to work on their craft demonstrated in the band's early days. Lyrically, this record depicts honesty from the group. They take their own experiences of growing up and finding their way as young men with clever wordplay, and perspectives. ‘Drifting’ is about growing up but looking at the experience through an older man’s eyes, which must be tough to write about when putting yourself in that scenario as a lyricist.
Other stand out tracks are ‘I Didn’t Know Your Name’ which is a big sounding track, with the lead guitar following the vocal melody in the intro and counter-acting it in the verses and pre-chorus. There’s genuine emotion which can be depicted through the delivery of the vocals. ‘Head Underwater’ demonstrates the bands heavier side, with a vocal melody that grabs the listeners attention through fast delivery, and repetition.
There is some variation with a couple of acoustic tracks on the album. ‘Hometown’ is sure to be a sing-along moment at Corella gigs, with a song discussing the sadness of moving away and missing where you’re from, which might be a reference to the band moving to university, which is sure to hit home with student fans of the group. ‘Rock The Boat’ is the other acoustic number, and the album's curtain closer. The song features a soft picking-pattern acoustic with a light bellowing drum and lead guitar dropping in and out of the instrumentation when different sections of the song's structure are reached, with a big stadium sounding ending.
This record will be a welcome addition to Manchester’s indie debutantes, with influences of Courteeners, and Oasis scattered all across the record. The band have a very exciting summer planned, with a headline tour that kicks off this month, and a very exciting appearance planned on the main stage at Reading And Leeds Festival. Much like this album's summer-soaked sound, Corella’s future is bright.
Words by Doug Dewdney
