ALBUM REVIEW: Happier – As December Falls

There always seems to be a nostalgia wave for life 20 years ago. A couple of years ago, you couldn’t scroll through the internet without a post or Buzzfeed article talking about how great it was to be a 90s kid. Now, the trend is surrounding the turn of the century, the Y2K culture of the noughties. With that, a lot of the music now is reflecting on the pop punk and pop rock sound of that period and reviving it for the 2020s. One such band looking to assist in that revival is AS DECEMBER FALLS, with their latest album, Happier. So, does the band help recapture and revitalise that Y2K sound, or is the album as apocalyptic as Y2K itself? 

For one thing, their influence from PARAMORE is evident throughout the whole album, but they also embody some sounds similar to PALE WAVES in their own way and flow. There’s a lot of energy and fire in the band that is evident from the whole album, but especially in tracks like Afterglow, Over It, H.N.A, and All Of This Is Over. There’s a fun and jammy sound to those tracks that the music put their talent into, but also their heart.

For example, Tears is a strong and punchy track, but also very expressive and elevated, as the music within the song gives it that strength and energy as a stand out track within the album. Fake Company is another example in a different way, where the music captures the realistic lyrics that cut deep, but in a soothing way because of the softer music surrounding it, acting like the band are saying “I feel this too, I am with you”, which when added with the fantastic vocals, helps make this another standout and brilliant track on the album.

Unfortunately, the album suffers from a lull after the first two tracks where the music feels a little shallow – not in a conceited way, but in the sense that the tracks are left wanting more without any depth explored. This is shown in I Don’t Feel Like Feeling Good, which is well written, especially in the lyrics, but feels like a lesser version of Ignorance by PARAMORE. You Say When is another that could have easily gone deeper in its writing, and whilst the music side of it is fun and jammy, the lyrics could have done a lot more, especially with the topic at hand. But aside from those two tracks, along with Nothing On You which also has that same problem, the rest of the album has a great feel and vibe that is very much needed within the nostalgia wave.

Overall, Happier is a pretty good pop rock album with a lot of meaningful tracks done by extremely talented people. It’s sad that there are a few tracks that don’t work, but considering it’s 3 out of 11, it shows that the majority of the album does work and brings about that nostalgic fire whilst keeping true to who AS DECEMBER FALLS are. There’s a lot of improvement that the band can work on, but they are a very talented outfit, so whatever they do next, it will surely be an excellent adventure. 

Rating: 7/10

Happier is set for release August 6th via self-release. 

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