Released on August 16, 2024 through BMG Rights Management, The Script’s new album Satellites marks a poignant and transitional moment for the band. A shift for the veteran Irish Rock band, you can look at it all starting with the loss of their Guitarist Mark Sheehan who passed in 2023 after a brief illness. Heartbreaking for all involved, now they complete with two new full-time members; Benjamin Sargent on bass (Michael Buble, Gavin Degraw) and Ben Weaver on guitar (The Waifs). With these new members, you have Frontman Danny O’Donoghue and Guitarist Glen Power leading the charge.
The band’s seventh studio album, Satellites reflects both a tribute to Sheehan and a significant leap forward in the group’s ever-evolving sound. The lead single, “Better Days,” first released on May 17th, projects a message of resilience, focusing on living in the present, and most critically, embracing the future. With this in mind, the album plays with upbeat Pop elements and acoustic-driven melodies that have become standard for the band’s releases, but a fine balance has been achieved between the sounds of the group’s new journey and the familiar, comfortable one that keeps the core values intact.
Tracks such as “Gone” immediately erupt as emotional tributes to Sheehan. This is while others such as “Inside Out” offer a much more complex scheme of influences; working to explore introspective themes, including one’s mental health and the societal issues that continue to plague our world. It is not exactly that we all do not want to be good, but that to achieve goodness, we all must venture down different routes.
Musically, Satellites incorporates the skills of its orchestrators but does well to surprise you with textures that have been foreign to the group in the past. With this, they work diligently and also effortlessly to incorporate ’80s and R&B influences. This path provides songs like “Unsaid” and “Run Run Run,” which is a unique, freshly-modern edge. As the album continues, it becomes obvious that the band was shooting for a slightly different result, but wanted to ensure that the true essence and original bones of who they are did not falter. For any musical group striving to evolve but also retain its stature, utilizing new elements can often be detrimental to not just sales, but the overall product that is eventually released.
However, Satellites does well to maintain The Script’s signature Pop Rock style; as heard in tracks like “At Your Feet,” which echoes the band’s earlier work, such as “Breakeven” and “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.” This result serves as a reminder that The Script is a band that can successfully push onward. They have incorporated the tragic emotions that remain in their hearts, as well as their unwavering drive to serve themselves and the memory of their dear departed friend and colleague. This commitment to moving forward is felt throughout each song on Satellites. With such strong remaining cohesion, the new elements mold beautifully with the standard ingredients that have made The Script one of the most popular studio and live acts of the last two decades.
Overall, Satellites is a heartfelt, reflective album that balances grief and optimism, while brilliantly showcasing the band’s willingness to honor the past and charge their creative forces to heights that have not been reached before. They now have the inspiration from both the past and present and appear to understand the magnitude of what’s at stake. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Satellites 4 out of 5 stars.
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