The Veils Time Stays, We Go

The Veils have tapped into their slightly darker side for their latest, Time Stays, We Go. The album cover sets the tone immediately (a shot of a house on fire in a field), and the songs continue to embrace darker themes throughout. So it's heavy, but is it any good?

Yes, for the most part. This being the Veils' fourth release, they know what type of mood they're going for and how to get it. The songs on Time Stays, We Go are all tightly written, and none of them feel overlong. However, there are a few spots where they seem to lose the urgency that is present on the first two songs, and it's here that the Veils begin to stray from what makes them so special.

Through the Deep, Dark Wood starts blasting, with singer Finn Andrews lamenting that "no, I can't go back". It sets a spooky, slightly desperate tone for the album that is carried on with Train with No Name, which features a slow-building, morose melody and defeatist lyrics like "gather your rosebuds while you may/ because the end is coming but it's okay". The dark and agitated feel established immediately works alongside the lilting melodies to create some powerful moments right out of the gate.

Unfortunately, a lot of the atmosphere built on them is completely undercut later on by a few unfortunately lackadaisical efforts, like in Candy Apple Red and the yawner The Pearl, which comes after what may be the emotional high point of the album and completely destroys any type of emotional momentum that had been built up to that point.

Fortunately, there are a lot more hits than misses. Andrews' vocals sound tired and a little world weary, like he's seen it all and wasn't impressed. The style adds a sense of drama. Likewise, the melodies on most songs are incredibly diverse, moving from wild-west style ramblers like Dancing With the Tornado, in which Andrews observes "Annie has them tombstone teeth and a stare so warm it could melt the snow" from amid a backdrop of rambling guitars and steady drumbeats. It's the most lively song of the record, and it shows what happens when the Veils cut loose; you just end up wishing they'd do so a little more often.

The group tests their versatility two songs later, shifting into a guitar-driven echofest in Sign of Your Love, which is more laid-back but no less beautiful, with evocative lyrics like "the dead are dancing on the moon/but I'm too lost in love to care."

Time Stays, We Go is an album that focuses on loss, whether that's the loss of a love or the loss of time. The Veils have put together an effort that is both beautiful yet inconsistent, which has some extremely good songs with a few less stellar efforts thrown in the mix. There are some beautiful melodies, and the bleak melancholy of the wry lyrics compliments the weary vocal styling. Overall, its their most accessible, one whose highs are much more pronounced than its lows.