The band returns with their sophomore full-length.

If you haven’t heard of Amber Run, now is the time to start paying attention.

This four piece from Nottingham, UK composed of Joe Keogh, Will Jones, Tom Sperring and Henry Wyeth, have just released their second album titled, For A Moment, I Was Lost. The 12 track record gives the guys a chance to put all of the hard work, from basically picking up the pieces and rebuilding the band last year, to now undergoing the daunting task of releasing an album.

We were formally introduced to Amber Run with their first release, 5AM, in 2015. They had a lot to say with 17 tracks and they didn’t hold anything back. Emotionally charged and raw, they have continued this thread into the new album and it has become their powerful tool.

This collection of songs explores some heavy subject matters that is refreshing to see as they’re being brought to the forefront. Addressing the mental health within the band is identified through many songs on the album.

The desire of pursuing true happiness is something frontman Joe Keogh now talks openly, including his experiences with anxiety and feeling isolation on the road. You can hear this immediately as the record starts through the first track Insomniac. An open conversation with himself it feels like. “You remind me of someone I used to know, you have his eyes, you have his shadow”, musically it translates into quite a more accessible song despite its heavier content.

Also Island can be put in the same category. I can see these tracks getting big ‘sing along’ and being standout moments between crowd and band during live performances.

The first teaser we got from this album was Haze. This direct 1:57 minute track sporting layered auto-tuned vocals, think The Japanese House and music-less. This vocal only song doesn’t feel lacking of what instruments provide, it simply hypnotizes and heart wretches. It is the most distinctive song on the album.

Stranger is where it takes off and where we can gage where the guys are musically. Gritty guitars and even grittier and howling vocals, this song is a balancing act between quieter and loader moments throughout the song, yet progresses effortlessly.

White Lie shows how they can move from heavier tracks into more gentile tracks. Again this track carries some emotional weight “I’m a failure. I’m a disaster. I don’t want to be anything else.”

As you progress through the album you can hear the refinement of their artistic aesthetic but exploration is the driving force of this record. You can still hear in each track genres and techniques are pushed and tested. No Answers is sounding completely different to Fickle Game traveling on different tangents and contrasting in sound.

The pace is picked up with Perfect, which illustrates how well their techniques have progressed. Broody bass and quick drums work really well in building up a massive set of guitars that completely take off a couple of times in the song. Where the track after that, Dark Bloom shows the guys coming into the song with a sense of patience. Keogh’s vocals perfectly proportioned with the racing drums as they intertwine together.

As we wind down to the we catch a moment with Machine and Are You Home?, we are hit. Both are bringing it down a little. Two great moments on the album and a touching way to depart from the emotional journey.

Heavy hearted Wastelands rounds off the album and caries some slight optimism. Again you can hear experimentation with sound, produced and a classic piano. And with a clock like sound, our time with this album is over.

Amber Run have put down good routes with this album, and as they show the longevity as a band, their creative awakening has begun. You can hear their new found confidence and won’t settle for anything less than world domination.