Review:: Moving Past | The Fold

The reason that I’m nearly two months late with this review is because I’ve just now finally finished listening to the record.

Okay, that’s a lie. However, on their newest full-length, The Fold use every second of their near hour-long record to prove that there is still a life after a label.

On Moving Past, the Chicago four-piece returns from a four-year drought with an album packed with emotion and positivity.

If opener “Different Kind of Disease” is any indicator as to the status of the band, then it’s safe to say the group knows what they’re doing. As the longest song on the album, the group mixes heavy drums, subtle piano, soaring guitars, and an infectious chorus into one, kicking the album off with a reassurance that The Fold are in a good place.

While the first handful of tracks are pleasant, the first true standout that Moving Past gives us is “Live Forever” – a soft, atmospheric anthem with an echoing chorus that booms its way through the speakers.

The snap-along “La Da Da” tells the story of being young and naïve, diving head first into the music business, only to be replaced by “another band that sounds just like you,” being told “they’ll make a big star out of you,” until “it all fell apart with the economy” and “new-found friends all abandon you.” But despite all of the detailed disasters, the group harmonizes singing “La-da-da, I could get used to this.”

The Fold rarely have a misstep when it comes to their sound, whether it is their softer/acoustic music or their explosive full-band songs, and both make appearances on Moving Past. The simply-titled “Love,” the somber “My Side,” and the quick “Engine No. 22” focus on the first of the two, while the title track and “Closer to the Ground” lean nearer to the latter. Meanwhile, songs like “Another World,” the choral-packed finale “Dreams, and “Crooked Road” find a median between the two, gracefully melding the band’s split personality into one.

Though they’ve spent a good portion of the last few years writing jingles and theme songs for the NFL and the MLB and LEGO (yupp, LEGO), The Fold haven’t lost sight of their goal. If anything, spending their time having fun, without the pressure of a label or a contract breathing down their necks, has helped them to produce some of their most impressive work to date. Moving Past is an autobiography of progression, focus, desire, and leaving life’s negativity behind.

Release Date: October 15th, 2013
Rating: 4/5
Runtime: 54:26

Tracklist:
1. Different Kind of Disease
2. Crooked Road
3. Closer to the Ground
4. Live Forever
5. La da Da
6. Engine No. 22
7. Moving Past
8. Love
9. Another World
10. Bye Bye Love
11. My Side
12. Life Is a Song
13. Dreams

Lineup:
Dan Castady – Vocals
Matt Pittman – Bass
George Castady – Guitar
Mark Rhodes – Drums

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Written By: Eric Riley