Canterbury: Heavy in the Day

As promised (a long, long time ago) here is my review of Canterbury's awesome album 'Heavy in the Day'!

'Heavy in the Day' album artwork, © Canterbury

Upon listening to Canterbury's debut album 'Heavy in the Day' for the first time back in September, my main thought was 'Why isn't this band massive yet?'. Months have passed since then, and I've been lucky enough to see the band live this month at The Sugarmill in Stoke-on-Trent. The question still remains. So many bands create debut albums that sound too much like their influences and fail to create something new - But not Canterbury. Their music is like nothing that I've ever heard before - they have an individual, signature sound, and they put across this unique sound and energy on a live stage as well as they do on their fantastic album 'Heavy in the Day'. If you buy any album before this year ends, this is the one to get. You will not regret it, I promise!

Highlight of the album:

Pretty much every track on this album is outstanding, in my opinion, and most of the songs on 'Heavy in the Day' could easily be released as successful singles. My personal highlight is 'Calm Down', as this is the first Canterbury song that I heard - the song that made me think 'Wow, this band have got something special going on, I need to listen to some more of their songs'. It has killer riffs, a chorus that you can't help but sing along too, awesome vocal harmonies and it basically makes you want to get up and dance! 'Ready Yet?' is another similarly ace track - a three-minute-long rock song with swagger, anthemic choruses and a real display of that fresh sound that sets Canterbury apart from many other bands. But 'Heavy in the Day' is not just an upbeat, fast paced and anthemic rock album - Canterbury show completely different sides to their sound in tracks like the mysterious-sounding 'Garden Grows' and the slow-paced, romantic piece 'Gloria'. The album's title track 'Heavy In The Day' is also a musical masterpiece, and is perhaps one of the best-composed pieces on the entire album.

Lowlight of the album:

I love this album so much that I can't think of a particularly weak track! There aren't really any filler tracks on 'Heavy in the Day' - every song has great moments and each one adds something different to the album. My least favourite track is probably 'She's a Flame', just because I don't think that it showcases Canterbury's musical style and songwriting skills as well as the other songs on the album, as it's a little bit slow and repetitive compared to other tracks. Nonetheless, it's by no means a bad song!

For fans of:

Canterbury's sound is unique, and there's not one single band that I can really compare them to. 'Heavy in the Day' has moments reminiscent of Coldplay, ELO, and even The Beatles, but I cannot pin down a single band that Canterbury seem to be emulating in any way - they just sound like Canterbury!

Overall rating:

Rated A for AWESOME!

...And do you know what makes this album even better than the amazing calibre of music on it? The fact that Canterbury aren't even signed to a major label. Their music is their own. There are no music executives from 'the industry' in suits and ties telling them how to act or how to sound. Yet the album sounds completely professional - the production is second-to-none, the sound quality is crystal clear and basically, every track sounds bloody awesome. I know I've already said this but I'll say it again - Listen to this band. Remember the name of this band. You'll be hearing a lot more from them in the future.

(Also, on a side note, the band is actually made up of some pretty awesome blokes too, who seem to actually care about their fans! After their performance at The Sugarmill this month, Luke Prebble went out into the crowd as soon as the show had ended to meet fans, sign tickets and have photos taken. In fact, here's a pic of me and my friend @LaurenAshton94 meeting him after the gig...)

Thanks for reading my review! As I have some time off college now for Christmas, hopefully I'll get chance to post a few more articles over the coming weeks. Stay tuned to Superunknown!
PsyD