by Zhanet Stamatova
The Irish rock trio The Script is back with their fourth studio album ‘No Sound Without Silence’. This album isn’t that different in style or in sound from the band’s previous releases, bringing up similar themes too. The lead singer Danny O’Donoghue describes it in an interview as “a prequel to the first album. Like the album that should have come out before the very first Script album.”
What is interesting about ‘No Sound Without Silence’ is that it was recorded mostly on the road in the band’s studio bus, while The Script was on a tour promoting their previous album ‘#3’. The band members have stated in various interviews that they were often recording straight after concerts, their main aim being to convey the energy from the stage to their songs.
‘No Sound Without Silence’ starts off with the song ‘No Good in Goodbye’, an emotionally charged song about love and heartbreak, major themes in many of the band’s songs. Next is ‘Superheroes’, the first song written for the album, as well as the first one released. This song praises the “unsung heroes” and its message not to give up is directed at them. The video for the song was recorded in Johannesburg in order to capture the lives of the normal people, the ones living in poverty, the ones who fight every in order to survive and overcome the challenges they are faced with.
The album continues with ‘Man on a Wire’, which was inspired by a documentary about a Frenchman who crossed the distance between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre on a high-wire in 1974. In the song, the man is given a fictional purpose, which, unsurprisingly, is a woman.
The following songs ‘It’s Not Right for You’ and ‘The Energy Never Dies’ are about life itself, sum total. The first one urges people to do what they love because they are given only one life. The latter song is about the transience of the human body and the immortality of the human soul, seen in a way as transcendent and whose energy lives on even after one’s body ceases to function. The percussions make the song sound more optimistic and hopeful, helping to convey its meaning.
The next few songs in the album again cover the theme of love and its power, while ‘Paint the Town Green’ is a more upbeat song, an anthem devoted to Ireland and the Irish nation. The album concludes with ‘Without Those Songs’, dedicated to music seen as a way of expressing oneself and remaining alive after death, and finally ‘Hail Rain or Sunshine’, an upbeat song celebrating life and the fact that it goes on, no matter what.
‘No Sound Without Silence’ is an emotional and relaxing album possessing the typical sound of The Script. Something to listen to both by loyal fans of the band and people who are discovering them for the first time.
