Alternative rock band from Texas, Blue October released their latest album Home last April.

By Jane Howkins.

   Home is Blue October’s eighth studio release, and perhaps one of their most revolutionary yet. In their long career, the Texas based band have managed to evolve almost constantly, while still managing to stay within the pop-rock genre they inhabit so well. Their last album Sway was a wonderful step up from previous album Any Man In America (which is our least favourite record by the band), and whilst Home isn’t QUITE as good as Sway, it’s still pretty darn good.

Home sees Blue October moving forward but in a more modern way than before. Whereas the band used to be more rock than pop, that’s changed, with Leave It In The Dressing Room (Shake It Up) being the only real heavy song in their current arsenal. We would have liked to have heard some more songs in this vein, however what is here is still very good, if a little quieter than expected.

   Time Changes Everything has some electronic elements in it, ranging from soothing, ambient background music to beats that wouldn’t be amiss in most of the songs in the charts right now. It’s a really interesting track, and whilst it might seem long at almost eight minutes, it’s absolutely beautiful, and paints a nice picture of the evolutionary path that Blue October are embarking on at the moment. Following track The Still lives up to it’s title and is a four minute ambient piece, which is something that the band haven’t really experimented with before. It fits in nicely with the track before it, and hints at even further change for the band next time around.

Home is a really interesting release, and one that promises great things for the future evolution of the band. Progression is important in this industry, and Blue October have just proved that they have the means by which to truly make their mark.