The Afters ‘Fear No More’

The Afters
Fear No More
(Fair Trade Services)

The Afters return following last year’s greatest hits collection with Fear No More, a set combining the two new tracks on The Beginning & Everything After with seven new songs and a lovely new recording of 2005’s “Wait” with MercyMe (which is fitting, since the song matches the theme of “I Can Only Imagine”).

Drummer Jordan Mohilowski handles the bulk of the production, which matches the emotional tone of each song but maintains the band’s decidedly catchy pop sound. There is a broad range, from bright dance songs to prayerful ballads.

This is a very good album, but there are moments when it could be more. The band wrote from a place of vulnerability, and it’s likely that some raw emotions were shared. Too often, though, the songs that resulted have generalized those stories and emotions so much that they become common sentiment. Specificity would have helped keep the tap of the personal conversations that gave birth to the songs flowing into more of the actual songs.

–Mark Geil