It’s always nice hearing new music from Bayside, and Vacancy marks the band’s seventh full-length offering, following on from 2014’s Cult.
Vacancy is definitely one of the stronger albums from the four-piece and showcases the band on top form. Each of the eleven tracks has its own unique identity, yet all slot together fantastically as one big photo – the flow from song to song is great. A particular highlight comes in one of the later tracks, The Ghost, which is a classic-sounding Bayside number yet sounds fresh thanks to the more light-hearted and almost playful vibe to it.
The emotion in vocalist Anthony Raneri’s voice is always an absolute pleasure to bear witness to; although his voice may not be the most powerful nor the most distinctive out there in the genre, it’s definitely one of the most passionate and emotive, and adds so much colour to Bayside’s instrumentation, giving it that extra sparkle. Tracks such as Rumspringa (Heartbreak Road) and It Doesn’t Make It True are already beautiful on an instrumental level, but the vocals atop really turn them into something special.
As a whole, another fantastic album from Bayside – it’s great to bear witness to consistently good albums and Vacancy definitely doesn’t buck the trend.
9/10
