Album Review: Miss Fortune - 'A Spark To Believe'

We've all heard the saying "never judge a book by it's cover". It's overuse extends directly to music industry speech.

We are all guilty of this many times and in the case of Miss Fortune, we are once again. 

The band name and album cover of 'A Spark To Believe' all suggest the dime-a-dozen sound of post-hardcore bands nowadays. The badly formed song structures of screamed verses and clean choruses have become notoriously commonplace in the world of heavy music. Miss Fortune however shine above our expectations for what is the most surprising releases of this year so far. 

The sound, although no-doubt post-hardcore in terms of genre aspects, is akin to that of Emarosa and the melodic side of the late Woe, Is Me. There's the heavy, low-end focused undertones in the percussion and bass mixed with guitar and vocal harmonies that cannot be described as anything but spine-chilling. 

The melodic accompaniment of the album is truly outstanding. It borders on the catchy-pop side of the spectrum, while still retaining a strong and emotive aspect that will have you singing along by the second time the chorus comes around. 

The majority of the album's vocals are sung in clean-style fashion with the occasional inclusion of hardcore shouts and screams that surprisingly work overtly well. The song in question is 'I've Got a Five Point Plan', which has a huge Akissforjersey vibe to it. 

The standout track on the ten-track debut is 'Chasing Dreams'. Lyrically it borders on the uninspiring with its overused theme of following one's dreams (no surprise there) but sonically it holds depth and weight. Every note and drum hit played is done so with intensity and passion, working in such a way that feels like all parts of the track are saying something within their own right. Plus, it features one the biggest sounding and hook filled choruses of the year that will be memorable in the live environment. 

Although essentially nothing new, 'A Spark To Believe'  has passion and depth that a lot of bands are lacking in this genre. Whether you wish to call it melodic-rock or post-hardcore, Miss Fortune have no doubt achieved an album in great-stride; especially for a debut. It's catchy, melodic. heavy and hard hitting at all the right times. If Miss Fortune aren't the next big thing next year, then there's definetely some thing wrong.

1. We're Not In Kansas Anymore
2. Ghost
3. Chasing Dreams
4. My Apologies
5. A Spark to Believe
6. Interstate 44
7. A Lost Cause
8. I've Got A Five Point Plan
9. Take That Shit Back to Baxter
10. The Double Threat of Danger (Acoustic)