”Unbreakable” is not only the title track—aptly chosen by
the producers of “Bionic Woman” to air on NBC—it is the ideal word to describe
the latest effort from Fireflight. The album delivers a seamless mix of hard-hitting,
rock rhythms, riffs and hooks, balanced with the pure vocals of front woman
Dawn Richardson. The result is a driving collection of songs that
unquestionably rings true to Fireflight’s alt-rock style, but doesn’t sacrifice
powerful lyrics, strong messages and memorable delivery.
Picking up
where the title track ends, “You Gave Me a Promise” immediately catches
listeners’ attention with a catchy percussion scheme, which leads directly into
lyrics that will most likely resonate with any audience. Moving on, the album
is full of musical surprises—check out the string intro on track 3—and poignant
lyrics.
The one thing this album lacks is
enough variation to make each track stand out on its own. The same heavy
production and intense orchestration song after song tends to meld the tracks
together into an almost indistinguishable whole. While this is great for a
cohesive album, it might cause the listener to either lose interest or zone out
along the way. This band is clearly blessed with incredible vocals, strong
musicianship and intense production. It might do well to rely a little less on
the latter to make the former shine.
- Caroline Lusk