Review: American Authors Unleash a Set of Pop Rock Anthems With Counting Down EP
- by Adam Bailey
- in Reviews
New York rockers American Authors burst into the mainstream more than half a decade ago with their hit singles Believer and Best Day Of My Life taken from their 2014 debut album Oh, What A Life. By that point though, the band had been together for almost a decade, having met while in college in Boston and played together under the moniker The Blue Pages until they rebranded in 2012. A heavy touring schedule and follow up albums What We Live For in 2016, and last year’s Seasons continued to win the group fans for their eclectic, party-starting anthems.
Comprised of Zac Barnett (lead vocals and guitars), James Adam Shelley (lead vocals, keyboards and banjos), Dave Rublin (bass), and Matt Sanchez (drums) draw on a huge range of styles and influences with their music. You can feel everything from samba to metal hidden beneath their soaring, singalong repertoire on their new five-track EP Counting Down.
Kicking things off is Brick By Brick, a rousing, rampaging call to us all to conquer that doubting voice in the back of your mind, set to a thumping beat and neatly layered with vocal harmonies and horns and featuring the motivating lyrics “I got that every day doubt / That everyday roadblock / Building up high you’re trying to take me down / Tear it down brick by brick”.
Title track Counting Down is a sweet song about missing the one you love and waiting to be reunited, with a gentle verse backed by an acoustic guitar that builds into a powerful finale, while Microphone injects some funk rhythms and an almost rap feel to the verses. Best I Can is another track that builds from a soft intro into a pulsating dance-infused floor-filler, with a beat crafted by electronic duo SEEB, while Sky’s The Limit closes the EP with another inspiring and feelgood affair.
Relentlessly positive, big rock-pop beats and melodies, and plenty of swagger, American Authors deliver all this and more with their latest release.
Watch the official video for Brick By Brick here.
Counting Down tracklist:
1. Brick By Brick
2. Counting Down
3. Microphone
4. Best I Can
5. Sky’s The Limit
