Producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade) has left his mark on this five-piece alternative band’s most recent album, Leaving My Empire, for better or for worse. He possesses an impressive ability to make the band sound like they are walking a fine line between melancholy and joy, a talent that makes for an interesting album, though maybe one that is somewhat conventional.        “This seems almost familiar,” Joseph O’Leary sings on “Villians,” and he’s right—the same thought popped into my head with almost every track. Whenever Bilerman used Arcade Fire-esque vocals, I thought I was listening to the voice of Win Butler.  Although O’Leary’s voice is quite different from the Arcade Fire vocalist’s, it’s difficult to distinguish the two when all that echo and reverb is added. 

Despite the unavoidable similarities between the production techniques of Leaving My Empire and Funeral, there were many blasts of unique instrumentation and styles that set this band apart (and there are worse albums to sound like than the latter). Poignant melodies, poetic lyrics, and unique chord progressions come together to make this a heartfelt album, and the band displays an incredible togetherness in their vocal and instrumental parts. Filled with moving build-ups leading to epic climaxes, it’s very difficult not to listen to the whole thing from beginning to end each time.