She Is We - War

She is We
War
2016
Spotify

She is We is the new project from Rachel Taylor formerly of He is We. The music sits on the border between rock and pop almost sliding into the power pop genre but still maintains a great deal of edge. The closest comparison for this group would be Paramore, with the powerful female vocal and full force rock behind them. The one thing that instantly comes across from War is that Taylor is going to be wide open. each track is emotionally charged and full of depth. Her voice is also quite impeccable throughout becoming the driving force track after track. There also seems to be very few limits on this album. She is We don't feel beholden to any genre or preconceived notion of what they should be which means the music has this freedom to roam and explore. Many of the tracks on War have that powerful female anthemic quality but not in the let's all celebrate how happy we are way, more in the rallying call, or call to action type of way. "Flatlining" is a song about striving for love, even to your own peril, but the moments where Taylor invites the audience to sing along really do soar. Almost every song on this album has widespread appeal and has the potential to be a single. Unfortunately however there seems to be little buzz around this record and even less critical recognition.

One of the reasons why this album is flying under the radar is the fact that We have heard records like this before. The aforementioned Paramore have been making this music for years, though honestly not with this emotional depth, and people assume they have heard an album like this before. War always feels like it is right on the edge of something indie and something mainstream. You would think this would give it mass appeal, which it does, but somehow She is We don't fit in with either category. They come across as outsiders, making music for that group of "others" that you just can't define. The title track "War" is where Taylor really blows everything out both sonically and emotionally. The song is loud, full of heart and probably the best track on the record. Calling this album a debut would be a bit of a misnomer as Taylor has been doing something similar to this for quite some time, but not at this level. The ride that War takes you on really is something special, but in the end I don't know if it has enough appeal to really breakthrough. However if you give War a listen you will not be disappointed.

7.3 out of 10