Album Review: Waterparks - 'Greatest Hits'
God's favourite boyband has returned, and they’re greater than ever!
Houston act Waterparks have returned with their latest full-length record Greatest Hits, one of the most hyped-up releases of the year - especially by the band themselves - but does it live up to the promise of being the "greatest" hits? It's time to dive into the 17-track-long journey and discover the truth.
The album's introduced by the title track; a 95-second song to introduce a new album and a new era for the guys. The track repeats the line, "Last night I had the strangest dream of all" as the sound begins to change and warp and evolve. It feels uncontrollable, independent from its creators. This is a hint to the uncontrollable lives and times of the band due to their rapid-onset fame and recognition worldwide - a theme also touched upon in their preceding record Fandom - and it takes off from that moment into what's promised to be Waterparks' latest and greatest.
Leading to the album's release, the band unveiled a choice selection of tracks; each one showing just one facet of this precious piece of art. 'Lowkey As Hell' was the first single released from Greatest Hits, and can be considered a complete deception. Debut singles are known to give fans and critics a sense of what the album will pass on; as well-produced and catchy as 'Lowkey As Hell' is, it did not at all encapsulate the entire tone of Greatest Hits. And that's what makes the entire record exciting.
A predicted fan-favourite track is 'Fruit Roll Ups'. Don't get fooled by the title, as it's actually this album's edition of 'High Definition', a single previously released from Fandom. The difference in the tales is 'High Definition' focuses on the certainty of a failing relationship, while 'Fruit Roll Ups' is more hopeful and full of yearning and determination. The electronic elements make it fit perfectly into this record, and the track contains one of the most subtle yet powerful lyrics to leave vocalist Awsten Knight's lips: "I'm a little bitch for you."
The record is Waterparks at their loudest and proudest, but what makes it the greatest? It's the emotional fragility, it's the relatability of the lyrics (see tracks such as 'Just Kidding' and 'Numb'), and it's the complete change to constant consistent auto-tune and electronic/EDM beats and rhythms. It's just brand new - and some may argue that new is always better.
Here's to the latest and greatest hits!
Words by Jo Cosgrove