Grayscale is a name I hear very often among my friends. A band with so much potential, but I have never once listened to their music. As of recently, they came out with a new album Nella Vita. This will be my first listen in a genre I’m unfamiliar with, as well as the band. Beacuse of that, this will be a truly honest review from an unbiased party.
The first song of the album is “Just Right”. I expected a song that had a slow beginning for it being the start of the album. It did not which I think intrigued me even more. A song that gave the vibes of early 2000’s pop-punk. I was only 30 seconds in when I began to dance to the music. A song dedicated to someone you’d die to have back.
“Baby Blues” is the next song on the album, and it easily gave me the vibes that 5 Seconds of Summer used to give me. The way the music and lyrics make me feel is very different. Regardless of the message, it is a song with the right kind of flow that I could easily see myself listening to while I drive a long road with the windows down.
“In Violet” is such a beautiful song to hear. A song about not grieving over someone, but celebrating the life they lived is so beautiful. The message is so beyond perfect because it’s the exact kind of message I want to leave with my loved ones.
“Young” reminded me of All Time Low. “Do you remember when it wasn’t so hard? Sick of seeing all these kids with their arms scarred. Gotta wonder how we let it get this far,” — that’s a set of lyrics that felt like it was punching me in the throat. The message that we should be treating each other better is the reason I will have it blasting through a pair of headphones while I blissfully clean my home.
“Twilight (My Heaven)” is another song on this album I would blissfully clean too. A song that is about finding someone, your own personal heaven, should not make me feel the way it does in my bones.
“Old Friends” is my second favorite song on this album. The beginning of this song feels smoother and simpler than the songs before it. Everyone has someone they wished they could talk to just one last time to just say anything and everything.
“Painkiller Weather” is a song that is easy to listen to due to its pop feel. The message it tackles of loving someone with an addiction is tough because it is such a hard situation to deal with.
“What’s On Your Mind” is an easy listen that makes it a great candidate to clean along to. After listening for the first time, I added it to my road trip playlist. However, the message appears to be describing a relationship that can never be healthy for anyone.
“Asbury” made me close my eyes and see a room of swaying lights. This is a song I would love to hear live. Any set of lyrics that captured my attention was: “Will you smile at me when you leave? I fall into you like you always do.” I cannot explain how much that stole my attention. Listening to those lyrics and the beauty of this song made me open the curtains and let the light into my home.
“Desert Queen” is another song on this album I would love to hear live so I could feel the energy in the room as everyone screams the lyrics.
“In My Arms” is a song that I would naturally gravitate to. The message of someone drifting to drugs, but trying to convince their friends and family that they will stay clean is a hard thing to swallow.
The last song on this album, “Tommy’s Song”, is my favorite song of the album. I was only 45 seconds into the song when I began crying. As I was listening to this song it felt like my heart was breaking. I could feel the pain the vocalist, Collin Walsh, was going through when he wrote this song. The emotion alone is what makes it my favorite.
This album was not what I was expecting, and if this is what Grayscale has to offer then I can see myself listening to their other albums and becoming more familiar with the work.
