ALBUM REVIEW: Colliding By Design – Acceptance

After ten years, Seattle band ACCEPTANCE place themselves back into the equation and appear to be refreshed. The alternative act, build upon the foundations they left behind, notching up another well-rounded record in the form of Colliding By Design.

And it’s a powerful piece of flair, complete with contrasting beats. The band strike with confidence, an approach of efficiency, embarking on creating sounds that don’t clatter, but meld effectively. They also enforce a change in direction somewhat, touching up their well worked, emphatic, contributions.

There’s a poppy feel to the record too, although it doesn’t rub against the pillar of commercialism. It’s still an alternative rock album, with enough grit to keep it from becoming plastic and uninspiring. It’s the lyrics that fully bring it into contention, they rally a cry, and are written with a deep slant and story. And Colliding By Design offers many hits.

Diagram Of A Simple Man openings proceedings. It takes influence from days gone by, and is truly a triumphant start, with a wonderful melodic undercurrent. Lyrically it’s poetic, describing seeing the world in black in white, but dreaming in colour, those lines are covered in truth. Come Closer manages to create a subtle and sombre feeling. It’s a melancholic push for something real, and the little snippets of guitar eases the song into being one of the best on the record. Fire And Rain is a louder more frantic track at the start, until it falls profoundly into a slower frequency. The lyrics are beautiful and highly relatable.

ACCEPTANCE open up their musical world after a long stretch off, and with Colliding With Design, they seem like they’ve never lost the spark.

Rating: 8/10

Colliding With Design is out now via Rise Records.

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