IT - We're All In This Together - 2017
“... an uncertain future for younger generations ...”
intro
The label Progressive Gears released in March the album “We're All In This Together” from the British band called IT. For me it is the introduction to the band but it seems that this is already their fifth album. IT formed in 1994 released in that same year their debut full length album “The Stranger Inside The Self” which was followed up the next year with “Two Worlds”. At that time the band also started with the inclusion of short films playing behind the group on stage. In the year 2002 their third album “Over & Out” was released. The fourth album “Departure” was released in July 2009 with an accompanying bonus DVD giving an indication of the powerful on stage visuals. After a kind of hiatus whilst the band formulated new ideas, the band is now back with the conceptually based album “We're All In This Together”.
line-up
Nick Jackson - vocals, guitar; Andy Rowberry - guitars, backing vocals; James Hawkins - bass; Will Chism - drums; Ryan McCaffrey - keyboards, saxophone
review
You can find 10 tracks on “We're All In This Together” which explores themes of austerity, inequality and an uncertain future for younger generations.
The album opens with the track “Power”. A rock oriented track with some nice and brooding vocal parts. Especially the vocal parts in the last part are interesting. This is followed by the short and intriguing piece “Born Into Debt”. Slowly the band is catching my attention. This flows into the mellow track “The Working Man” which has very nice vocal melodies and a lovely electric guitar part. The vocal parts on this album are very strong. The next track “Last Chance” is showing this also. Again you can enjoy lovely vocal harmonies and some nice melodic guitar parts. All this supported by tasteful keyboard orchestrations.
“Gamble The Dream” is more powerful and rock oriented with aggressive guitar licks and powerful drumming. To be honest those more rock oriented pieces are not my personal favorites. With “Voices” the band grabbed my attention again. The band uses several narrative vocal samples on this album. The longest (11:49) and most interesting track of this fine album is entitled “The Path Of Least Resistance”. Cathy vocal refrains take turns with interesting instrumental parts. It is a diverse piece of music with some wonderful moments. At some point I hear some Porcupine Tree influences. My highlight of the album seamlessly flows into the next song “House”. This piece has some wonderful melodies and nice vocal refrains. But the later counts for the whole album. Very nice track!
The album closes with the two tracks “Down The Hatch” and “Revolution”. The opening of “Down The Hatch” is full of interesting samples. The piece has a somewhat threatening atmosphere. With “Revolution” the album comes to an end. The piece has a brooding bass line and the keyboard or Theremin part is very nice.
conclusion
On “We're All In This Together” the band uses a lot of samples, narrative vocals and spoken voice-overs to support the concept of the album. This works very well. The concept closely matches the threatening atmosphere of today's society. The vocal parts are very strong on this album. An album that needs several spins in your player before it reveals its quality. The band has an own sound, but if you like to hear some references, sometimes the atmosphere of the music reminds me of Floyd/Roger Waters and Porcupine Tree. In my opinion it is a good and fine prog album with great vocal parts but I am not blown away by it. This album has gotten some exceptional reviews, so I would say ... check this out for yourself!