The Rising produced one of the most startling performances of the Pop Up Stages at C2C 2016 if only because the group that seemed on the verge of moving up a league had replaced their male lead singer with a woman. An appearance later in the year at the Buckles & Boots festival showed the group to be in something of a transition, trying out new material while still clinging to the stuff that had served them so well before.
Now we have the first single from the new look Rising, if the old group were a proto power pop group then the new look Rising are quite simply a country leaning pop group. The metamorphosis from one to the other now seems complete, and the opening single is a good introduction to the new sound.
As you’d expect with a song from The Rising, there is catchy chorus and quite a few other hooks to grab hold of, while the subject matter, of a “Last First Love” is almost certainly a first for the band. So apart from the poppy intro the most noticeable difference is Chantelle McAteer on vocals who has settled into the role admirably on this evidence. There’s still room for a trademark Chris Logan guitar solo albeit the amps are probably now at seven rather than eleven as before, on what is a promising debut for the new look band..
With a UK co-headline tour coming up with Dawson Reigns we’ll get a chance to see what other material they have managed to develop over the last six months.