Album Review - "Good Love" EP by The Maine

I do love getting new music from bands I love, and I was more than pleased to hear that The Maine had put out a few new songs on an EP they just released. I got my hands on it as quickly as I could, far too excited to hear it, but can you blame me? Pioneer was fantastic and the Good Love EP does not disappoint.

Lead singer John's sound has grown up so much and in "Take Me Dancing" it's so mature, just like the rest of the EP, but this track almost sounds like it was written and sung by someone with far more years under his belt than John has. It feels like such an insight into what the group has seen, and as it picks up it almost feels bittersweet, rejoicing in a life that's well lived, though not necessarily easily lived. It's almost haunting, and so worth riding through the entire rise and fall of the song.

From there The Maine reminds you that they are completely 100% in charge of their music these days with "You'll Never Know". Even with the synth-laden sound nothing about this song isn't' true to who they are.

"You'll never know unless you take it there / take me there"

As almost expected from every Maine album, this is that song that leaves me wondering if it's not about a girl, but the band itself. I love that there's always a song like that.

"Hello World" and "I Want You" are peppier, the first sounding truer to the Black and White roots, but not back tracking. It's like a reminder that this was where they were going, "I Want You" screams that someone's been listening to classic rock, and I can't wait to hear it live.

I am desperately in love though with "Goodbye". The lyrics are so different from things they've sung about before, which just adds to the feel of the song. They own it, just like they do everything, and it's almost a tribute to the pop music of decades before, like something the Monkees or the Beatles eque with a Maine spin to it.

The title track, "Good Love", does just as you'd expect. The piano intro tugs at heart strings like "Back to You Did." The words are different though from the first single, an older interpretation of loneliness, loss, and hope.

"Good love will find me"

That's the kind of hope that anyone needs to hear at any given moment, and there's little that rings it as true as those lines. It's perfect.

Grab your copy on iTunes, now, and catch the band on tour with Mayday Parade this fall. If you're going to the Atlanta show on Halloween, let me know. I"ll bet here.

Posted in: album review, music, the maine