Album Review: Elder Brother – I Won't Fade On You

Getting out of your comfort zone can be a good thing. That initial hesitation to take the road less travelled can feel unusual, even uncomfortable, before that tentative first step sets us off on a rewarding journey. Elder Brother can attest to the positives that come with taking chances, having recalibrated their sound on I Get So Tired Of You. Despite the exasperated title of I Won’t Fade On You’s fourth track, its previously unexplored reliance on keys provides the centrepiece of this third album

It’s one of many areas of refinement the band – which started as a collaboration between vocalist Dan Rose and The Story So Far’s Kevin Geyer – have made this time around. Their previous outing, 2018’s Stay Inside, centred on drug addiction and was imbued with a chilly solemnity as a result. Thankfully, that sense of hopelessness has given way to something more hopeful: a reminder there are those who never give up on us, however dire our circumstances may become.

This warmth is reflected by a more straightforward delivery, both musically and lyrically. Our desire to be loved may be a complicated concept, but this sense of economy reduces the idea to its absolute essence, with Projector telling us ‘I want nothing more to be your something more’, over an arrangement that glows like fireflies in the darkness.

OK, Alright confirms that widening streak of romanticism, even if the object of one’s affections no longer necessarily feels the same – ‘I can’t peel my soul away from you’ – confirming that circumstances are often replete with shades of grey. As a document of love requited or unrequited, and life fulfilled or unfulfilled, I Won’t Fade On You supports, nurtures and reassures. They’re useful traits to turn to during uncertain times.

Verdict: 4/5

For Fans Of: The Story So Far, Boston Manor, Touché Amoré

I Won't Fade On You is released on October 2 via Pure Noise.

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