Album Review: Snow Patrol - Eyes Open (4.5 / 5)

In 2004, Snow Patrol jumped on the prevailing bandwagon of British rock (i.e. entering the "who can fill the void between Coldplay albums" contest). "Run" was lush and memorable; "Chocolate" and "Spitting Games" were memorable too, but too much of Final Straw suffered from an obvious sameness between cuts. Eyes Open bucks that tendency, delivering a great set of 11 coherent rock cuts that chronicle a story a relationship journey from love through dysfunction to ultimate resolution. And did I mention that this time they really rock? Eyes Open kicks off with the double punch of "You're All I Have" and "Hands Open," the first singles in the UK and US respectively. "You're All I Have," is energetic, fun, put-a-smile-on-your-face kind of rock. "Hands Open" is too, and for whatever reason, namechecks Sufjan Stevens (although the song sounds nothing like Stevens, but it's still fun).

Following those tracks is "Chasing Cars," another of the album's highlights. It's a tender rock ballad--a slow-builder--with a simplicity and tenderness that manages to be affecting and quite touching. "Shut Your Eyes" evokes mystery, while reminding a lover to remember a happy place "when the worrying starts to hurt." "It's Beginning to Get to Me," a enjoyable mid-tempo number in the Killers vein of synth-layered rock that chronicles the collapse of a relationship. Lyrically, the entire album is clearly the result of the songwriter (not sure who does the duty for the band) having put everything on the line for a relationship that didn't work out. "I can only give you everything I got" croons the leader singer in "Make This Go On Forever," a piano and strings ballad with vocals. Unlike Embrace's bombastic tendency to turn such songs over the top, this track retains its intimacy and impact.

Martha Wainwright shows up on "Set the Fire to the Third Bar," an interesting and dramatic number that almost sounds like something Moby might have done in the mid-90s. "Open Your Eyes," an obvious bookend to "Shut Your Eyes," builds up slowly to an optimistic conclusion ("I won't waste a minute without you"). Mellow "The Finish Line" closes the album, declaring that "the finish line's a good place we could start." Despite their depency and dysfunction, the couple seems to have decided to turn the page and give it another go. Eyes Open is thoroughly enjoyable--a worthy effort and the best I've heard so far this year.