Walk the Moon returns with album “What If Nothing“

Alternative rock group Walk the Moon released their third album, “What If Nothing,” on Nov. 10. After a three-year hiatus  since their previous album “Talking is Hard,” the band made an emotional return with this album.

Prior to the album’s release, Walk the Moon created a trailer to prepare fans for what was to come. In the trailer, lead singer Nicholas Petricca revealed the band was close to breaking up and asked themselves, “What if it was all for nothing?” Instead of dissolving the band, they decided to embrace their dark sides and use their art to work through their conflicts.

The concept of facing their own problems becomes a theme throughout the album. The first song, “Press Restart,” describes  the aftermath of a break-up. While much of the song focuses on heartache, there is a constant suggestion of starting over and the idea that what may seem like an end could really be the beginning of something new.

The idea of embracing one’s darkness appears in the song “All I Want.” Despite its upbeat music, the lyrics speak of all the singer wants to be and the internal feelings of darkness that arise from feeling flawed.

The theme continues in “Kamikaze,” which was featured in the album’s trailer. This song is about fighting inner demons, and  it also reflects  the band’s conflicts. Petricca sings, “It’s not about the crown / We could share the kingdom,” possibly referring to the option of going solo, but choosing to stay with the group.

The record closes with “Lost in The Wild.” This song concludes the album on a note of recovery and hope. It expresses the need to put the past behind them and work together to make amends, as the group did after the difficulties they faced.

In this album, Walk the Moon experiments with a few different sounds. Some, such as “One Foot,” “Surrender” and “All I Want,” are similar to the group’s past work, but others are much different.

The songs “Headphones” and “Kamikaze” have more aspects of rock. While “Kamikaze” has a balance of hard percussion and the softer sounds similar to many other songs on the album, “Headphones” is much more intense in its heavy instrumentals, vocals and mixture of sounds. Although the album’s general themes are present in “Headphones,” the song itself does not fit well with the rest of the set.

Several of the songs sound reminiscent of the 80s, including “Tiger Teeth,” and “Sound of Awakening.” These feature electronic elements and autotuning which  make them distinct from the rest of the album, as well as the rest of the group’s work.

The last four songs on the album feature another shift in sound. “Feels Good To Be High,” “Can’t Sleep,” “In My Mind” and “Lost in the Wild” seem to fall somewhere in between the group’s usual sound and the newer elements of rock and electronic.

The album plays with different genres and musical techniques, giving it an experimental, but scrambled feeling. However, the lyrics tie all of the songs together and present a clear progression of themes. Knowing the backstory of the band’s intentions also helps to understand the meaning behind the album.

Although the album is meant to communicate the journey the band has gone through since they released their previous album, listeners may relate to the themes of heartbreak and overcoming inner darkness.