Album: Winona Avenue
Artist: Winona Avenue
Social Media: Band Website / YouTube / Spotify / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook
For Fans Of: Taking Back Sunday, Amber Pacific, Reliant K, MxPx
Review: A famous movie narrator / inmate at Shawshank Penitentiary once said; "Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane." A fork in the road can be a tough decision, does one continue down a
path that is clearly visible but has also not been working out? Or do we
walk the unknown road of uncertainty with no guarantee that it will
lead somewhere more suitable?
"I didn't believe it was right for me / I was so afraid that everything would fall away," sings Daniel Deputy, who forms the Winona Avenue duo with his brother David. The following is pulled directly from the band's press release;
"Winona Avenue can be thought of as a route that is
traveled throughout a lifetime. “The decisions you make, the way in which you
deal with circumstances, and who you choose to follow can determine where you
will go,” says David. The band further explains that the band name can be a
reminder that there is always hope for a new beginning. “Even if you feel like
you are at the end of the road, or that you have nowhere left to turn, we
believe in the opportunity to start over and begin again,” says Daniel."
"I thought I knew it all... knew everything / But now I've come to realize I was lost in the melody,"sings Daniel on "Future Me," a song about reminiscing on one's past decisions. But rather than regretting the choices one has made we actually find ourselves in a much better situation where we are able to look back and laugh at our past trepidation. "When I trusted the unseen, it was clear to me." Sometimes all a person can do is put their faith in a higher power and hope that things will fall in place along the way.
Themes of discovery and redemption carry throughout the album's 12 tracks and nearly 40 minutes of length. "I'm breaking out of this repetitive dream" is the message on one of the album's multiple singles "Dancing In The Pouring Rain." If you haven't caught on by now, Winona Avenue is a Christian rock album, but it is also an album that could appeal to those who might not normally consider themselves as the traditionally religious type because the messages don't necessarily beat you over the head or pass judgement upon you for not "believing." The songwriters merely offer their own Prodigal-type stories as an example that venturing out into the cold, gray fog doesn't always have to lead to a place like Silent Hill. A message that can be true for anyone and everyone.
"Hope is a good thing, and maybe the best of things / Hope can set you free." - Andy Duphrense; The Shawshank Redemption
Rating: 8.5/10 - A solid pop-rock album with intelligent lyrics and positive messages of redemption and new beginnings.
"Future Me"
"December Night"
