It’s quite fitting that We Were Promised Jetpacks open their latest album with a track entitled “Not Me Anymore.” Of course the band are still very much themselves, but the moody vocal delivery of Adam Thompson and the chilled out, synth-heavy sounds signal a change of sorts and the track definitely stands out in sounding not quite like anything WWPJ have done before. It comes across as almost a mission statement – in starting the album off with such a departure, the band is definitely letting the listener know to expect something a bit different. This willingness to switch things up a bit and broaden their sound has certainly paid off, with WWPJ producing perhaps their strongest album since their debut These Four Walls.
For those worried that the band may have strayed too far from their origins, songs like “Fat Chance” veer a bit closer to the band’s past sounds, though with lyrics about doing “a complete 180,” it certainly still shares some common themes with “Not Me Anymore.” The standout of the album though is also its literal centrepiece – probably no coincidence. That track, “If It Happens,” lends the album its title with its lyric “All I want to do is get high and enjoy the view” also doubling as an apropos description of the overall vibe of the album – subdued in some ways yet also quite expansive and adventurous.
Enjoy The View is out September 10 on Big Scary Monsters.