Album Review: The Mission In Motion - Somewhere Safe

Pop-rock: the genre is oversaturated and the style is overtly predictable. However, The Mission In Motion prove on 'Somewhere Safe' that a band can still channel the pop-rock spirit well enough to make you forget that Every Avenue ever happened. In the same mould as Relient K, TMIM write intelligent pop-rock songs with a little more emphasis on the ‘rock’ than one would expect from the genre. It’s this harder element to their music which provides us with strikingly dark glimpses of an album underpinned with fear and frustration. The sullen feel to the album is summarised brilliantly by the minimalist opening track 'The Storm (Calm)', which prophetically looms over the record with the lyric, “what will happen if we follow our beliefs?”.

Unfortunately, they begin to stray from the less-beaten path with their lead single 'New Skin'; it suffers through its pop-rock clichés and predictable lyrics about how great the weekend is. The lyrics are the real issue here, as the jovial gang vocal of “bababadahdah” grates from the first chorus onwards, and as the stand-alone ‘pop‘ track, it feels forced for the sake of the radio. However, the darker elements of the title track effectively showcase the depth which their glorious introduction suggested they harboured, and before you know it, The Mission in Motion have made a stunning comeback. The slick production may put an unnecessary sheen on their aggressive energy, which comes closet to being captured on ‘Believer’, but their brilliantly executed riffs and soaring vocals pull them through the glimmering sheen of the producer.

With that said, the remainder of the record is not without its musical flaws. ‘This Could Be Everything’ sounds bland and uninspiring when compared to the tracks it precedes; it feels like a lapse in creativity. However, the sudden change in delivery on the humble delicacy of ‘What Do You Do’ keeps the record fresh through its delicate acoustics, bare percussion and blues-esque guitar stylings. It’s the most diverse moment on Somewhere Safe and is a successful exploration of the limits of their genre. It’s also significantly better than ‘New Skin’ in every way possible.

Following on from this, the album is drawn to an undeniably epic end with the anthemic 'The Storm', as the united chant of “we are safe” brings the album home. It is quite the quote to end the record: it’s as safe as pop-rock can be in parts, but TMIM’s desire for the dark and the occasional musical adventure puts them firmly at the front of the pop pack. 'Somewhere Safe' is a record worthy of your attention.

3.5/5

'Somewhere Safe' by The Mission In Motion is available now on Bandcamp.

The Mission In Motion on MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and Purevolume.

Alex Howick