The greatness of rock music surrounds you with this latest offering “Take It That Way” from The Flat Nasty. The sound is immediately big, a heavy wall of music, a brilliant fusion of the melodic and the distorted, with a slightly grunge-esque edge to the whole presentation.

The music unfolds progressively – it takes its time to strike, slowly captivating you with a greatly confident sort of calmness. It sets a mellow vibe at first that really captures your attention and draws you in. As things build up, it’s not a wall of various instruments layered on top of one another to present intensity, as is sometimes the case, instead it’s a unique and delicate touch of artistic expression – partly in the form of very specific synth and effect choices.

The hit of the music is enhanced by the leading vocal, which is beautifully performed; relevantly mellow, yet subtly and crucially emotional. It’s also a vocal that has been flawlessly and effectively incorporated into the mix, really helping the entire project just wash over its audience with great style.

The track has a lot about it that is unexpected and fairly unpredictable. It’s a beautiful few minutes to experience, and it draws no blatant comparisons at any point. The enjoyment comes partly from the freshness, and partly from the undeniably skillful way in which the music has been crafted and controlled to set a very specific sort of vibe.

The songwriting is noticeably unique, not simply in the lyrics, but in the way the whole thing has been crafted by the band so as to relevantly reflect the feeling at each point in the song. The importance of structure has been realized and utilized effectively, so when things get emotional, the music gets loud, and when things simmer down a little, the music falls away appropriately. This creative touch adds so much value to the music, and really makes the song stand out as an individual project indicative of the bands’ own personality and style. It also really allows you to hear those lyrics in full, and to get yourself familiar with the leading vocal – it’s one that is fresh and fairly quickly recognizable as that of “Take It That Way”. It’s a good combination of factors that lead to the sound being purely theirs.

There’s undoubtedly something of worth being said, something not often expressed in modern music, and it’s being said in an incredibly interesting and attention grabbing way. At times the lyrical substance seems a little more connected to the heavier and calm side of rock music – it’s actually really refreshing to hear a very raw, rock and roll sound soaked in so much feeling and honesty. It’s an anthem by all accounts, with a memorable and addictive hook, but also with some very honest and deeply reflective connotations. It’s an important song, expressing an important issue. Well worth a listen.