Deaf Havana will be a familiar name to any UK based fans of rock music. Championed by Kerrang! and Rocksound in their earlier days, they rapidly gained a large following down to their catchy blend of deep, well-written lyrics and anthemic, singalong choruses. In recent years their music has changed a lot - matured, as they would probably tell you. Nowadays they are closer to indie rock than their earlier post-hardcore sound, but still with the same rich lyrical content and ability to pen a song that will stick in your head all day. All These Countless Nights is the fourth release by the band - the question is, have they still got it? Let's find out.
Our as popular as ever ratings system can be found below:
1 - Shouldn't have been recorded
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Ashes, Ashes
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 02 - Trigger
John - 3/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 03 - L.O.V.E
John - 3/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 04 - Happiness
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 05 - Fever
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 06 - Like a Ghost
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 07 - Pretty Low
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 08 - England
John - 4.5/5
Tilly - 4.5/5
Track 09 -Seattle
John - 5/5
Tilly - 5/5
Track 10 - St Paul's
John - 4.5/5
Tilly - 4.5/5
Track 11 - Sing
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 12 - Pensacola, 2013
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Conclusion
John - Short answer the question at the end of the intro - yes, yes they have. Deaf Havana have demonstrated what excellent songwriting ability they possess here. Seattle is an extraordinarily good song, earning my third 5 star rating ever, with England and St Paul's following closely behind. Other than those three tracks, the rest didn't quite live up to them, but were still consistently good (perhaps with the exception of Like A Ghost - the low point of the album for me). Deaf Havana have slowly grown up into what they are today, maturing more with each album, and All These Countless Nights showcases that. It is by far their most accomplished release yet in my opinion.
Having said all of this - my one complaint is that the record just doesn't feel cohesive enough. It's certainly an album of two halves, and it's blatantly obvious. The first half is heavier than what we've heard from them for quite a while, and you end up judging the song more for it's instrumental than anything else. The latter half though? It's a lyrical paradise. My complaint is that the lyrical paradise didn't start from track one. If it had, my score would have been nearing a 5.
Overall Score - 4/5
Tilly - Once again, this was a very frustrating album. The first song Ashes to Ashes was excellent with it's beautiful lyrics and I'd presumed it was going to set up All These Countless Nights perfectly. Unfortunately it did not. The record proceeded to take a mediocre turn for about five or six songs. They weren't bad by any means but just your stereotypical, modern rock songs. Forgettable at best. HOWEVER, those were followed by three songs. England, Seattle and St Paul's, which were of such a high quality in every sense of the word that I let out an internal scream when Sing came on and ruined that triple hit. Not that Sing is a bad song or anything, because it's far from it. But after having such pure, honest, and superbly written songs beforehand, it felt a little frustrating being thrust back into the clichéd rock sound. Pensacola, 2013 was the album closer, and was once again a pretty good song but nothing extraordinary. This could have been a potential four and a half or even five scoring album if it had followed the high quality shown in the four songs mentioned, but it was just so mismatched and two halved that I unfortunately have to rate it an average-ish score.
Overall Score - 3.5/5
For Fans Of - Mallory Knox, Lonely The Brave and You Me At Six.
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