After a three-year break, the young Kiwi lads are back with their fourth album, Follow The Sun. Like its predecessors, the band aims at big melodies, memorable chants and defining hooks. Follow The Sun is imaginative at times, especially in the production department, but it does seem to slip into the FM radio format a little too easily.
Shines On Everyone sets the mood and is promising with its harmonies and meditation in a simple nursery rhyme fashion. The band manage to try out some new styles on pop tunes like Run Away, which adopts the classic '80s synth sounds. Then a little later the band tries to vary things on That's The Way, which gets back to the more traditional sounds that lean towards the folk music at the heart of their music.
Before the band's hiatus, they toured around the world with P!nk and then took their time to record this new album. The elder brother Jon has used his production talents to guide the record through its paces. Strangely enough, the album could have done with more refining and additional input from outside the brother's circle. Another pair of ears may have helped - perhaps younger brother Dann's, which have served Lisa Mitchell and Matt Corby so well.
Follow the Sun is perhaps a side step for a band that needs to look beyond their youth and past successes. They could take a few tips from their fellow countrymen, the Finn brothers, and be a bit more daring next time.
