The XCERTS – Learning How to Live and Let Go
The XCERTS fifth studio album may fluctuate in tone, but it's still chock full of heart and vulnerability
The fifth album by The XCERTS, Learning How to Live and Let Go, opens with prior-released single GIMME, which could be considered bold. There is a lot sonically jam-packed into it – it’s brash and in your face. The upbeat chaos travels throughout the first couple of tracks, and a feature from Architects' Sam Carter is a welcome and fun addition to the song Ache. The album title finds its way into some of the songs’ lyrics, repeated like a battle cry.
There is an incorporation of piano, brass and strings in some of the slower songs like Drag Me Out and My Friends Forever which gives the listening experience more dimension; the latter is the biggest departure, with frontman Murray Macleod crooning to the sound of background rain accompanied by what we can only describe as a soft jazz instrumental.
Overall, Learning How to Live and Let Go fluctuates in tone. But this doesn’t negate the clear effort the band have put into making this record a lot more experimental than any of their previous releases, and it’s still chock full of heart and vulnerability in its lyrical content.
Listen to: Ache, Lovesick, Blame