Tonight Alive are one of those bands that if you say you don’t like them, it’s probably because you’ve never listened to them. They’re from Sydney, Australia, and were formed in 2008. All their music touches the heart in a way that some bands can’t deliver. A lot of the songs really relate to how teenage girls are feeling and just that will make you fall in love with the band. It doesn’t even have to be the meaning of the songs to get you obsessed with the music, it’s the way it sounds. Their sound is very fun and joyful to listen to. Although I don’t always relate to the songs and their meanings, they’re still extremely catchy and my favorite thing to listen to when I want energy boost.
They’re somewhat recent album ‘The Other Side’ is a very emotional album. Jenna McDougall, the lead singer, talks about how in ‘Bathwater’ and ‘The Ocean’ are both about the same emotions almost. ‘The Ocean’ was written in between tours and it’s pretty much about trying to find the right treatment to a toxic skin condition. ‘Bathwater’ is about her getting really sick and feeling mentally and physically exhausted. She used to take bleach baths which is not really relatable to me, but the song is purely about escaping from the world and watching the bathwater drain.
One of my absolute favorites is the song called ‘The Fire’ which happens to be the bands favorite song on the album. They’ve also talked about how that’s their favorite song to perform live because there’s no boring parts in it, and there really isn’t. It talks about the acceptance you feel when you finally learn to get over what’s happened to you in the past. The inspiration for this song actually inspired to start trying to get over what’s happened to me in the past with family and relationships. It’s definitely a very fun song to sing and dance to when you’re one of those extremely happy moods.
This definitely is one of my favorite albums by Tonight Alive, but there’s not a song they have out that I’m not absolutely in love with. Recently, a song called ‘The Edge’ came out and it’s actually in the newest Amazing Spiderman movie. It’s their most recent published production of a song and music video. It is a single, but it’ll probably land on their newest album coming out in 2015. In a recent interview, they said they’re going to start recording in December, and will hopefully have the album done by June. They also said in the interview that they will put out a new album every two years.
My personal favorite by the band though is their album ‘All Shapes and Disguises’ which doesn’t happen to be very popular for some reason. It’s seriously the best they’ve made though. Everything by them is amazing, but this album just speaks volumes to me. It is quite relatable as well, but the beat of every song makes me want to sing it loud to world. I can’t listen to it without tapping my fingers or lip syncing along. Three of the songs on the album were first released on their EP ‘Consider This’ which came out in 2010, but the album was released later on that year.
My favorite on the album would have to be ‘My Favorite Thing’. This song talks about the obvious, someone she definitely lusts. The first lyrics are ‘I fall at the thought of us falling apart’ which definitely connects to me on my current relationship. Every time I listen to this song, it makes me happy because it makes me think about the person that makes me happy and I’m sure that was the intent. Lyrics at the end of the song state ‘Why? Why me? When you could have had anybody / Hi nice to meet you / was it nice to meet me too?’ which clearly says that she feels very special to have been chosen by this person that she lusts.
Not that their album ‘What Are You So Scared Of?’ which came out in 2011, isn’t my favorite, it’s not even my least favorite, but it’s just my last favorite. Although it’s very catchy along with all of the other albums, one of the songs on the album really hits close to home. When I had seen Tonight Alive at Vans Warped Tour in 2013, I started crying to the song ‘Amelia’. The song is about a girl she knew in high school who she had been friends with, but they hadn’t talked in a while and she died in an accident. When she was on stage, she dedicated the song to anyone that has lost anyone close to them, and at that time my father was in the process of dealing with brain cancer. I sang along loudly and cried to it while thinking about my dad.
‘What Are You So Scared Of’ is actually the album that contains my most favorite song, ‘Breaking & Entering’. Although it is my favorite, some of the lyrics bring me back to a dark time in my life where I was so upset with how my life was. The lyrics state ‘The voices are telling me I just can’t always be this strong’ which probably relates to a lot of teenagers. Not just the sappy lyrics made me fall in love with the song, it’s the way how it’s. Not just the sappy lyrics made me fall in love with the song; it’s the way how it’s so positively spoken when it’s so negatively written. Listening to these happy/sappy songs make my day complete though.
So far the band has 3 full albums, 1 EP, and an album on the way. I’ve never had anything bad to say about the band as people or their music, and no one I’ve ever talked to has said anything bad about them either. They’re just in general good people who make good music. When I saw them at Vans Warped Tour, I’d waited for their set for 45 minutes in the heat, and when they were done, I waited at their meet and greet for over an hour. When I met them, they were all extremely sweet and I actually got a picture with Jenna, and a shirt signed by the entire band. I was third in line which meant my meet and greet time was a bit limited, but it was worth it.
http://www.alterthepress.com/2014/05/tonight-alive-to-release-new-album-in.html