A Pleasant Surprise
New Yorker Ian Love releases his self-titled debut album "Ian Love". Love used to be in punk/hardcore band Burn, at a time where musically everything was great but alcohol and hard drugs were taking over his life. After spending time in rehab and straightening his life out Love went on to form Rival Schools, and also wrote material for Cardia. Now on this solo album we see his music change almost as much as his life has, he has written and self recorded a chilled out album inspired by his life experiences.
This album is a far cry from his usual work, an acoustic guitar is dominant throughout, and is backed up by keyboards, and modest percussion which doesn't drowned out the acoustic guitar or vocals. Opening track 'The Only Night' really sets the tone of this album; although there are more energetic tracks featured the mood always remains light and positive.
The thing that really stands out about this album is that unlike a lot of singer/songwriters the songs don't all sound the same; maybe this is because he draws in his previous work to create a diverse mix of sounds.
Any Ian Love fans that want to see a different side of his music and personality should definitely give this a listen, there are a lot of beautiful tracks on this album and you will be pleasantly surprised.