People In Planes - Beyond The Horizon Album Review

Review of People In Planes album Beyond The Horizon.

People In Planes have been through 3 guises in their short time making music, they started out as a four piece called Tetra Splendour, then went onto Robots In The Sky but were worried about complaints of similar named bands such as Robots In Disguise and now we have - with the addition of an extra member - People In Planes.

Beyond The Horizon is the new album from this now quintet. The album opens with 'Last Man Standing' straight away you're hit with Gareth Jones gravel vocals, the build up throughout the track, the twists and turns which it takes leads you to believe that maybe it really is third time lucky for this lot.

Next up is 'Mayday (M'aidez) the most noticeable difference to this track is Jones' has adapted the style of his vocals to suit the song, regardless 'Mayday (M'aidez)' is a thundering tune and if you wanted to read too deeply into this you could say that this track is a reference to the band name.

People In Planes do however show that they are not just a one trick pony. 'Pretty Buildings' is a piano based ballad. Something that does seem out of place on the album, yet at the same time fits perfectly. Nice to see something different and to see that there are up and coming bands that are will to try something else and not just play it safe. But.yes there is always a but! At times you do feel that these are just a My Chemical Romance tribute band. 'Better Than Life' does give that feel, and 'Flesh and Blood' goes on to confirm suspicions.

Title tracks are always interesting because they are either one of the album highlights or just a filler with some lyrics that sound like they would make for a great album name. Going against the material already heard 'Beyond The Horizon' it seems like neither, it could be a closer comparison to a jamming session. Still at least People In Planes are still thinking outside of the box on occasions.

At times the twelve track album does seem to drag and there are a couple of times you may find yourself asking if a few tracks should have been left off the release. For example, 'Know By Now' sounds like a really bad Bon Jovi rip off.

People In Planes sound like they have raised the bar on their previous bands and have produced a consistent debut album. The next question is, when the band release another record will it be under the same name?

2.5/5

Mark Moore