Album Review: New County - Lives We Lead

From the moment New County’s 'Lives We Lead' starts, most listeners will either love it or hate it. 'Lives We Lead' opens with 'Impossible', a solid, bouncy pop track with catchy verses, and typical lyrics for pop music: boy likes girl, girl is upset at boy; we all know the drill. 'Impossible' is nothing spectacular, but expect it to be on involuntary repeat in anyone’s brain that listens to it.

The highlight of 'Lives We Lead' for this listener is 'I’m No Him', a slow, introspective track with simple instrumentation and solid vocals. Less is more on this track, and it’s definitely the standout cut on the EP. This track is followed by 'Circles', another upbeat pop song with a chorus that will stick with listeners long after they move on to the last track of the EP.

'Lives We Lead' closes with 'Say What You Mean', a lackluster track that attempts to lean more toward the rock side of pop-rock, but can’t accomplish it convincingly. The chorus is too long and complicated compared to the other tracks on the EP, and by this time the "whoa-oh-ohs" that permeate the EP have long outstayed their welcome.

Depending on your age and music tastes, 'Lives We Lead' could easily be described in one of the two ways in the first paragraph, but for this listener it was simply mediocre. New County has a solid sound, but a few issues hold 'Lives We Lead' back from being a great EP.

2.5/5

'Lives We Lead' by New County is available now.

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