Framing Hanley's "A Promise To Burn"

by Sean R.

Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Sound Quality: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Framing Hanley, a five-piece band based in Nashville, Tennessee made their breakthrough and gained a following with their 2007 debut "The Moment". Their follow-up release, "A Promise To Burn", builds upon and improves the formula that caught their fan's attention. It is sure to earn a good listen from fans of the first album, and new listeners alike. Although the subject matter may be a generic lifestyle subject in this day and age, having mainly to do with the pull of Hollywood fame and it's impact on the people caught in the middle, the structure of the album is enough to keep not only from being boring, but also proving entertaining enough to deserve multiple listen through's. From the piano laced intro, setting the mood for the rest of the album to build off of before spilling into The Promise. Which is where Nixon proves his vocal abilities can be more than straight lined, offering more depth and emotion than what was found on the previous release while the band as a whole follows suit with a more refined and polished sound. Each song bleeds into the next, adding to the last track's lyrical content and doing good to tell a story which some may find a monotonous idea although in my personal opinion it adds to the overall listening experience, making it difficult to judge the album song-by-song and more as a whole. The first single of the album, You Stupid Girl, finds itself 2/4's into the album, providing one of the album's few high points with it's to-the-point lyrics and intensity building beat which is heavily driven by drums on this track, making sure to get the sought-after aggression across. Which surprisingly flows into one of the album's more softer tracks, Weight Of The World, where Nixon's voice really shines and adds to the point that his vocal abilities have improved furthermore from their debut as well as the band's songwriting ability as the track starts up with a piano before opening up into a guitar solo before the track's ending. Perhaps the highest point of the album is it's closing song, The Burn, summarizing the entire album from a hindsight perspective and bringing it all to a head with an intensity that is near-incredible and believable. Overall, I rate "A Promise To Burn" as a listening experience that should be worth one listen through from both followers of the band and fans of modern rock alike.