REVIEW: NO ONE’S HOME

I wrote about Cinders a couples months ago after the release of their single “Growing Up.” Now that their new third album No One’s Home has been out for a month and I’ve had time to properly digest it, I feel like it’s time for a full review. I'm kind of like a cow. I need to chew on a piece of music a lot, digest it a bit, regurgitate, and then chew on it some more. Much of this review will echo similar sentiments as my review of “Growing Up” not only because I’m a lazy piece of shit that likes to recycle my own material but also because this album is a master class of carrying the same feel and tone from beginning to end without feeling like all of the songs are the same.

I’ve never felt more like a kid,” sings lead singer Montana Smith on the album’s lead single, “Growing Up.” It’s a message of renewed youth that is carried throughout the album and rings true for most aging millennials as we progress later and later into our twenties, a time where people leave behind so many of the things they feel they must in the name of moving on and growing up. Yet there’s a maturity to No One's Home that sets it apart from the band’s last two albums.

Throughout the album, there’s a consistency in tone and cadence where each next step they take seems logical. There are no abrupt turns that disrupt the flow of the album. It’s akin to a well-paced movie where you’re captivated the entire time, never getting bored, distracted, or wondering just how much longer till it’s over.

Tucked right in the middle of the album following the energetic “Growing Up” is the underrated gem of “Crashes & Crumbles.” These two songs are a wonderful microcosm of the album and, how despite switching up the pace a bit, it doesn’t feel out of place. “Crashes & Crumbles” is the perfect introspective melody that would naturally follow the more loud in your face message vocalized in its predecessor of “I’m old enough to know that I’m not who I thought I’d be by now. Growing up shouldn’t even be allowed,” which is then seamlessly parlayed into “am I half empty or half full or am I shattered on the floor? I need someone to pick me up tonight.”  Within two songs they’ve effortlessly summarized what it feels like to be in your mid 20s or any given time in your life.

This subtle consistency from song to song captures and maintains your attention for the length of the album (though far from long, only standing at a whisker under 35 minutes) where you find yourself wondering how the time has passed so fast. I felt like I had just started two minutes ago and was suddenly asking myself, how did I finish 10 songs already? Especially as the album finishes with the climactic “Still Alive” in which we’re reminded that regardless of the year and a half we’ve all had, we’re still here and we’re still going. We’re still alive.

Conclusion: No One's Home is a solid album. Literally no skips on it. I think my personal favorite has to be “The Back Seat,” but you can’t go wrong with any of the others. It is clear that Cinders is now a force to be reckoned with. They know who they are and they’re going to succeed at regardless of what faces them. In a time of great adversity and trying times for artists worldwide they have found themselves and come out on the other side better and ready to take on the world.

See below for the band's latest music video for "Bittersweet."