"#3" doesn't seem like the most inspired title for a third album, especially with the manifesto of "hashtags" but to The Script it means much more than that. First, there are three of them. The album was recorded in Studio 3, 3rd October is lead-singer Danny O'Donoghue's birthday. But more importantly, "#3" is a concept of what they see as the three most precious components of their music: head, heart and feet. Music with lyrics that make you think, make you feel, and you can dance to.
The record kicks off with "Good Old Days", and in terms of the aims talked about above it ticks all the boxes. "Good Old Days" is about a pub crawl, talks of smoking cigars and dancing in the rain and more than that, it's about music bringing a room full of people together. From the burst of life that is the introduction to the chorus you can't help sing along with, this song is so strong and it fills you right up. It just really sums up this band and all of what is unique about them and their background, and it's nice to see them venturing outside of what I think they know they do best, which is a really big break-up ballad.
Having said that, the second track, "Six Degrees of Separation" is exactly one of those, but it's great to hear a song from them that stems from just an acoustic guitar and drums, and reminiscent of their older music. "Hall of Fame", the first single from the album, is about "Ordinary people doing extraordinary things", and perfect for London's Olympic summer. It unexpectedly features the vocals of will.i.am, but The Script haven't let this shove them too far in the direction of being too heavily produced or commercial, though definitely more than their other stuff.
"If You Could See Me Now" is the song that Danny O'Donoghue and Mark Sheehan wrote because they felt a hole in the record, a song that was missing about a topic they hadn't been ready to touch yet, and this one, about the deaths of their parents, has been brewing for years. It's so honest, personal and brave; reflecting on the loss of a father and negative as well as positive life developments since his passing away, pondering achievements and fuck-ups. O'Donoghue said somewhere that "Art is the only justification that there is for pain." This just puts that into action: it is brave, honest and one of the best on the album. Mark Sheehan has said about it; "I can't even picture playing it live because it is so personal." On three intimate tour dates this week, they have proved they found the courage for this.
Listening to the lyrics of "Glowing" it is a ballad in the traditional sense - a story - and it's so abstract and confusing that it's almost a choose-your-own-adventure in whatever way you apply it, which I suppose which is a good thing, because as listeners we make lyrics belong to ourselves. It is about a girl running away, because she is being chased. "Give The Love Around" is a track that wanders definitely towards the ground of R&B and rap music, but the organic nature of The Script's music isn't taken away with this - you won't find any autotune or heavy synth parts on this album and I kind of like that they argued with a stereotype this way. They have lost no integrity. "Broken Arrow" stems from an acoustic guitar and instrumentally, it's more like their earlier two albums than this new-found genre, but again features Mark Sheehan's rapping. It's about healing, and grows and grows throughout, the vocals and the string arrangement are both full of power.
"Kaleidoscope"... "Kaleidoscope" has me dancing. It's like nothing they've done before, opening with an electric guitar playing arpeggios that sound just the right amount of fuzzy, and is one of those hopeful, perfect, unashamed love songs that fill you with euphoria. That's all I can say about it, it's just one of those songs that you can't help but dance to, the kind of song that you set as your alarm and hop out of bed smiling on the worst of days. Danny's vocals really climb here, thriving in his upper falsetto. The next song is "No Words", a song about love and devotion, another one with a rhythm sounding vaguely like an R&B/pop song.
And "#3" finishes in a full circle, with "Millionaires", back stumbling out of a bar - "Singing our hearts out, standing on chairs, spending our time like we are millionaires." It's proof that however much they've been able to adventure into new genres, they're still able to make music that sounds just like it could've been from one of their earlier records - The Script aren't afraid of growing and changing, but they haven't left their roots behind.
"#3" is different to their other stuff, no doubt. It's a little more mainstream and commercial, which I think there'll be people that are angered by, but another development they've gone through I've noticed is lyrically this third album is just so much more adventurous. The first two albums, "The Script" and "Science and Faith" have been heavily based around romantic love and relationships falling apart. "#3" is different. It touches on family issues, emotional healing, work and motivation, and more than anything, they sing about the values of friendship - "Good Ol' Days" and "Millionaires" particularly just remind me of being warm and drunk and laughing, singing along to something, ridiculously out of tune, and clinging onto friends' arms for support.
Yes, it's maybe more commercial but The Script haven't lost the elements of their music that come most naturally. Their music is more mainstream but it isn't cold, really, it is full of life and soul and, in fact, everything they aimed for - "#3" is music for the head, heart and feet.
"Kaleidoscope"... "Kaleidoscope" has me dancing. It's like nothing they've done before, opening with an electric guitar playing arpeggios that sound just the right amount of fuzzy, and is one of those hopeful, perfect, unashamed love songs that fill you with euphoria. That's all I can say about it, it's just one of those songs that you can't help but dance to, the kind of song that you set as your alarm and hop out of bed smiling on the worst of days. Danny's vocals really climb here, thriving in his upper falsetto. The next song is "No Words", a song about love and devotion, another one with a rhythm sounding vaguely like an R&B/pop song.
And "#3" finishes in a full circle, with "Millionaires", back stumbling out of a bar - "Singing our hearts out, standing on chairs, spending our time like we are millionaires." It's proof that however much they've been able to adventure into new genres, they're still able to make music that sounds just like it could've been from one of their earlier records - The Script aren't afraid of growing and changing, but they haven't left their roots behind.
"#3" is different to their other stuff, no doubt. It's a little more mainstream and commercial, which I think there'll be people that are angered by, but another development they've gone through I've noticed is lyrically this third album is just so much more adventurous. The first two albums, "The Script" and "Science and Faith" have been heavily based around romantic love and relationships falling apart. "#3" is different. It touches on family issues, emotional healing, work and motivation, and more than anything, they sing about the values of friendship - "Good Ol' Days" and "Millionaires" particularly just remind me of being warm and drunk and laughing, singing along to something, ridiculously out of tune, and clinging onto friends' arms for support.
Yes, it's maybe more commercial but The Script haven't lost the elements of their music that come most naturally. Their music is more mainstream but it isn't cold, really, it is full of life and soul and, in fact, everything they aimed for - "#3" is music for the head, heart and feet.
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