Greetings dearest readers and music fans everywhere, help us welcome Baltimore band Icarus Phoenix to our blog. On 15th August, the band released an album called “I should have known the things you never said”. The 10-song album was Produced by Jed Jones (Post Malone, The Killers), and recorded in November 2022 at June Audio in Provo, Utah. Long-time friends Jake Bellows of the band Neva Dinova helped out by providing extra guitar, Justin Pacheco provided bass, and Andrew Young provided drums. The extra sounds and atmosphere were provided by Rocky Cordray of Teleprom and Chaz Prymek of Lake Mary. The songs on the album were written by Drew Danburry. Let’s talk more about this album.

The album’s first song is called “The things you never told me”. The song’s intro starts with synth sounds with are a bit subdued but the tempo keeps rising and then a very exciting drum beat is added to it. The song paints a very clear picture of a relationship in crisis. The couple’s problems are so evident leading one of them to ask a rhetorical question where he or she lets his or her partner that there is no way he or she would know something that has not been disclosed because he or she is not a mind reader (“should I have known the things you never told me (2x)”). As he or she makes his or her case he or she reminds his or her partner that he or she was not privy to the answer to his or her question and tells him or her that he or she knows how the rest of the argument would go because he or she will deny or justify his or her side of the story (“You’ll deny, justify”). There is a very intriguing guitar solo mixed with subdued synth sounds and drum sounds and the lead vocals and backing vocals are incredibly exciting, there is another guitar solo towards the end of the song and there is a person speaking Japanese at the very end. With this song, we see that kind of direction is going to take and you mentally prepare yourself for the rest of the songs

The next song is called “Live. Give. Lose. Grow”. This song opens with bright and beautiful guitar strums before the vocal performance starts. The character in the song feels like his partner thinks he is not truthful(“You question my integrity”). We later see that this character tells his partner that she has every right to change but shouldn’t blame him for that change because all he wants is the very best for her (“I’m okay with you changing, I’m not okay with you blaming me”) (“I want the best for you”). The instrumentation is very lively and beautiful, with the guitar being at the very forefront and the vocal performance is very powerful and will captivate you

“High Tide” is the next song on the album. The song’s opening is a snazzy beat which is the fusion of guitar and drum beats. The unnamed character accuses his lover of expecting certain behaviors and treatment that she doesn’t give(“You want everything you won’t give”). He also accuses her of abhorring any type of change(“closing your mind to any ideas requiring change”). Musically, listeners can expect a stunning vocal performance and an equally stunning guitar solo that will thrill you sonically

“In the Blood (Mother Light cover)” is the title of the next song . The song has a unique opening and high and very pronounced guitar strums. The character in the song is grieving over someone he’s lost(“By the time they reached us you were already dead”). The lyrics of the song show how the persona is living in the memories he made with his loved one and we get to see and feel the grief he is going through. Yet again, there is a beautiful guitar solo in the middle of the song. The song is a cover of another song and I must say they did it Justice the quality of the song is equal to the original in every way

Next is the song “Doctor! Doctor!”. This song doesn’t have a long intro, the vocal performance literally greets you. The song introduces listeners to a persona who has met with some type of doctor(the song doesn’t reveal the type ) and during their meeting the doctor tells the persona that life is precious and that he has so many reasons why he should live(“Doctor told me I have so much I can give and reasons I should live”). To solidify her point she points out that if the persona were to choose to end his life, he would be missed by people in his life but he tells her that he has no one who will miss him if and when he is gone stating that we as humans just live life to work without enjoyment till we die(“if I’m gone people will miss me, I told her I don’t agree”). The persona goes back and forth with the doctor, agreeing that he was more than a paycheck and that probably his son would miss him. The instrumentation on this song was absolute perfection with an outstanding guitar solo, tender vocal performance, and a message that life is precious and that we all matter, a sentiment I applaud the band for sharing with listeners.

“Hatillo 2” is the song that follows. The intro is quite slow and soft. The song shows a beautiful friendship and a persona who doesn’t want to be a neutral person. The persona wants to live fully and deeply and despite deeply and fully (“I’ll always be the best of friends or the worst enemies nothing in between”). There is another guitar solo that listeners can look forward to and a very heavenly vocal performance

“Painting”. This is a song that features an artist called Teleprom, the intro is slow and delicate. The song shows how a persona called Sara who shows her various ways she copes with the loss of her son. She used painting (“she used painting to get through”) and after she told her other children about the death of their brother, she used religion as a coping mechanism (“you tell your children that their brothers passed on and then you get dressed and off to church you go”). Later on in the song the lead singer’s choice of lyrics seems to mean that this was a story he had lived and he got to know the band a little more. The song is very emotional even though it ends with dark static sounds till the song ends. The song is a standout due to its lyrics, vocals, instrumentation and vulnerability of the band

Next comes the song “When it’s Time to Go (I don’t know if it is)”. The song has an upbeat intro that will captivate you right from the start. The beginning of the song seems to depict a beautiful relationship (“Right now it means everything to have you near”) however, things change due to one of the parties being selfish(“I don’t wanna feel this way”. (“You act like a one-way street”). The vocal performance is very thrilling and will delight you. There is also a very exciting guitar solo mid-song that you should really look forward to

“The Sword and Harp” is the next song on the album. The song features the artist Neva Dinova This is a country-like song that is very captivating. The song talks about the struggles of humans and a situation where we make bad decisions and hope to get a good outcome out of it (“A dark bargain for luck”). As the song goes on the song morphs into a different Tone as the band encourages listeners to be sad but we should never let depression cripple us but we should dance it all away (“ we can feel sadness and dance away depression (3x)”). The song is a Star performance, especially counting the electric guitar and the song creates a beautiful sonic experience

The last song on the album is called “Kanashimi”, a song featuring Lake Mary. The opening is very intricate and beautiful which goes on for a while. The song encourages listeners to try to work through their pain and face it because sometimes the only way out is through (“to process present pain, every time you avoid and tell yourself to wait”). Another theme the song explores is that of self-love, a very important thing that sometimes people struggle with. The tender and emotive vocal performance will let this hauntingly beautiful song linger even after the song has ended. With this amazing song, the album ends

This album is such a masterpiece, the songs were deeply profound and emotive. The Lyrics were easy to follow but had a much more profound meaning. I enjoyed every part of this album and learned a few things along the way. The band showed us their vulnerability and we were able to connect with them more deeply. The band is very talented and I can’t wait to hear more from them

Stream the “I Should Have Known The Things You Never Said” album on Spotify or SoundCloud

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