I Surrender Records came out with this great album concept: to get four of the greatest songwriters and singers in the alternative music scene and make them write a song each. The extended play features songs from Adam Lazzara (Taking Back Sunday), Chris Conley (Saves The Day), Anthony Raneri (Bayside), and Vinnie Caruana (I Am The Avalanche).



What we hear as a first impression is an acoustic-based album- each song is set on a calm tone and sent through a mellow mood throughout the whole record. The first track (Adam Lazzara), for instance, features a much more folk and indie sound, differing from Vinnie Caruana's song, which is also heavily influenced by faster genres (basing ourselves on the fast strums and the powerful vocals). 

On a second listen we can actually see the potential of the record, we can see and feel the way each song interconnects with one-another. Every song features the actual talent of each singer as a composer, as a whole musician. This extended play shows us why each of this songwriters is as big as they are, why they deserve the name they've respectively gotten for themselves in the music scene in general.  

The downsides of the album come as obvious: the length, the fact that each singer only has one song on the album. Something I would've liked to see is a song by Alan Day and Dan O'Connor (Four Year Strong), due to the fact that they are both great musicians whom already have written acoustic songs that can easily fit in the concept of the record, and well, their band is signed to I Surrender.

Overall the record is amazing, beautifully crafted and put together. I sincerely hope that it hits a large audience so a part two can be a possibility. 

8/10

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Release Date: November 25th, 2013
Record Label: I Surrender