Meet Me @ The Altar’s buzz has been constructing for thus lengthy that it’s onerous to consider they’re solely now releasing their debut full-length. They’ve been hailed by the press, followers and fellow bands as saviours of pop-punk since they broke out with the one ‘Backyard’ in 2020. NME named them ones to observe within the NME 100 for 2021; that 12 months, they signed with emo stalwarts Fueled By Ramen and launched an EP, ‘Mannequin Citizen’. Suffice it to say this album, ‘Previous // Current // Future’, didn’t come with out stress.
And but what the band delivers right here is completely different from what you could be anticipating based mostly on their journey thus far. This album is much less about pop-punk, the style tag with which they’ve turn into synonymous, and extra about exploring the poppiest heights of pop-rock. It’s produced by John Fields, who labored with Disney-era Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato, and the band cites these artists as influences, alongside adjoining teen-pop of that period like Avril Lavigne and P!nk.
It’s a mode of music usually mocked and maligned, however Meet Me @ The Altar deal with it with reverence and curiosity. They use its vitality and bounce to lend the right backing to the hater-challenging ‘Say It (To My Face)’; its swagger and snot to gas the breakup anthem ‘Identical Language’, and its ardour and emotion to color the Taylor Swift-esque romantic ballad ‘A Few Tomorrows’. There’s an unselfconsciousness to that period of music which, when paired with the arrogance and inventive perception in it that MM@TA have, turns into unstoppable.
Guitarist Téa Campbell and drummer Ada Juarez are imaginative and reducing on their devices — take heed to how they construct the primary 30 seconds of ‘(Say It) To My Face’ — and vocalist Edith Victoria is a gigantic, plain expertise. Her energy and chops are sufficient on their very own (she initially auditioned for the band with a canopy of Paramore’s ‘All I Wished,’ a efficiency so notoriously troublesome Hayley Williams herself took a decade to try it reside), whereas her presence and perspective elevate her to rival a number of the finest within the style. Album spotlight ‘Kool’ reveals her at her very best — delightfully cocky within the verses, then a panoramic belt for the refrain.
Again after they introduced this album again in January, the band shared an Instagram submit explaining the considering behind its title — paying tribute to the music that they love whereas staking their place in rock’s future. For a younger band to consider their profession in these phrases takes plenty of confidence, but it surely pays off on this debut. It’s one to final.
Particulars
- Label: Fueled By Ramen
- Launch date: March 10, 2023
