Ever since Nella Vita the second album released from Grayscale, an era that showed a change in sound from the band and connected the fan base even more, it’s left many questioning what was next and what could we expect from the boys of Philadelphia? In the middle of December, they had hinted to us on social media that something was coming in 2021 and they continued to slowly release pictures taken by the band’s photographer, Jordan Mizrahi. The pictures were definitely nothing that we’ve seen from the band before leaving an eerie and haunting feeling left, it definitely set the tone that something was coming, and it wasn’t going to be anything that we were going to expect. Last month they revealed Umbra, the third full-length was being released in August. After receiving two singles and a special music video release of Live Again, a track off the album on Wednesday afternoon, we got the album last night. Pull out your phones, open up your go-to music streaming app and take a moment to listen and step into Umbra.
Listening to this entire album in one sitting and the full play through, the band has definitely set the tone that they have entered a completely different sound as a band, and they’ve expressed that they definitely found it. The album has a variety of songs that still link to the pop-rock sound that the band has always had to them but it’s different in the sense that also a few of their songs have a 1975 vibe to them, it makes the songs sound fun and gets you swaying and wanting to dance to the music. They also brought back killer guitar solos which is again, something that I think was lost from music for a while but is making its proud way back into music once again.
It’s been known that Umbra was in the works for a while and most of that time being in quarantine while the rest of the world was shut down these five members have been taking a deep dive to figure out what songs were really going to make this album. When the announcement of the album was released Collin had come out to say that this album really finds its way into the sense of man versus self. So despite the killer guitar riffs and bighorns at the intro of songs, when really diving deep and focusing on the lyrics that were put so well together you can feel and relate to the true feelings that the band is trying to tell whether it’s from being disappointed in how society views themselves through social media, a heartbreak, and the risk of losing someone close to you. Grayscale has succeeded again in telling the story exactly how they meant it. Umbra is a beautifully curated album that deserves amazing recognition from a band that has never failed to make their fans feel alive through their music. If you’re looking for new albums to check out, Umbra is a MUST ADD to your list.
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