Album Review: Polar - 'Everywhere, Everything'
It’s Polar’s world and the choices are to be in or out. Or be both. Welcome to Everywhere, Everything.
Following the global pandemic in 2020, the band had to put a halt to touring and find a way to pass the time; this led to one of the best albums they have ever pulled together in Everywhere, Everything. Changing things up since the days of predecessor Nova, the four-piece are experimenting and living every chord played as if it could be their last.
The music flows seamlessly from track to track. Kicking things off with ‘Winds of Change’, the song flows on to ‘Burn’, one of the more recent singles from the record. It’s loud, it’s angry, and it’s a method to bring out the pain and the longing for passion once again - a state of being that many if not everyone experienced over the last couple of years.
The ten-track record is one that will speak out to those who need to hear it. Those who need help, who need comfort, and who especially need someone to believe in them and their endeavors. That is what Polar are giving within this record and it is a testament to the true power of music, especially within the metal corners.
By the midway point indicated by latest single ‘Rush’, the sense of relief is reached. There is this understanding that the years of wanting and needing an output have made many acts in music drive to this change-up. They find something that sounds the same way they are feeling, and that can be in multiple forms. Switching out melodic vocals for screams and shouts; speeding up steady strums of the guitar for shredding like life depended on it; making ignoring words and sounds impossible as it gets louder, heavier, and harder to tune out of. There is a story being told and for it to be told, there have to be listeners. Polar are no longer asking to be heard, they’re demanding it and that’s the power and confidence that helps a band climb back from such an uncertain time such as lockdown.
Music is back, live music is back and Polar are back better than ever before.
Closing this chapter on ‘Baptism of Fire’, it is safe to say that Everywhere, Everything have reached a new high that was once thought to only be a dream. After abandoning the live music side of life for so long, these songs only show that not only is live music truly back, but it’s back for good.
As the last track states and the band themselves prove, “I will rebuild”.
Words by Jo Cosgrove
