I became familiar with the the Scottish Alt-rock band Snow Patrol in the early 2000’s. With the albums Final Straw, Eyes Open, and One Hundred Million Suns, the group moved from Noticed to Highly Popular to Headliners. Snow Patrol’s style was one of thought-provoking melancholy with a up-paced edge sound. That sound was enhanced over the years with a couple of band-member changes to support co-founder and lead-man Gary Lightbody, given the departure of co-founder Mark McClelland. On occasion Snow Patrol would move to upbeat themes – which were superb.
International hits such as Chasing Cars and Taking Back The City were not only popular world-wide, but American T.V. Shows grabbed them for themes as well.
Two more pretty good but not superb albums releases followed – leaving fans in 2011 to wonder if Snow Patrol was capable of another gear or out of gas?
Not only was Snow Patrol out of gas but they all but disappeared from the scene. Now revealed, Lightbody dealt with depression, addiction and writers-block. Diversions to make time for writing music for others and potentially creating super-bands did nothing to help Snow Patrol itself.
Late in 2018, Snow Patrol released Wildness in what appears to be out of thin air (which we all know is never really the case). With Wildness, Jacknife Lee is back for Snow Patrol’s fifth straight album as its Producer. My guess is Lee has a lot with this album getting into the ears of the public.
Over simplified, Snow Patrol albums almost always sit around 4 out of 5 star rating in terms for satisfaction and quality. In short, never perfect, but very memorable, and always worth purchasing.
Wildness does not fall short of the a four-star rating on any aspect. Given the time lapse from new music by Snow Patrol – the album feels fresh, tight, and truly welcomed.
