Wow, what a great name for a band – there’s no swiping past aliensdontringdoorbells (yes, it’s written like that) is there? The name came from a witnessed conversation between a six year-old and an old man on a New York Subway platform. The man turned to the boy and said “It’s because aliens don’t ring doorbells” and the name was born. The six year old is the son of band member Dorian Foyil (guitar, sax and lead vocals) who is one third of aliensdontringdoorbells with Adam King (lead and backing vocals) and Christian Pearl (keyboards and backing vocals). The three are from differing walks of life ((Dorian from the USA, Adam from Liverpool and Christian from Birmingham) who all re-located to Spain’s Costa Blanca, discovered a mutual love of rock music and then began rehearsing, writing and performing together.  The result is their debut album, Arrival, written by all three, recorded in Denver, Colorado and produced by Jeff Kanan. 

Arrival kicks off with the frenetic anthem that is ‘Consummation‘, marrying the phrases to be consumed and to consume into a song full of feelings of anxiety edging on paranoia.  Continuing this look at anxiety and what it can push us to do and think, is the second track, ‘Slipping Away‘.  Both are strong melodically and have tremendous danceability.  This is great rock-pop. 

The stand out track for me comes around half way through and looks at the role of anger in relationships.  ‘Important‘ details how seemingly small things take on unwarranted significance and that you don’t always have to be right:

it was real important / but now it doesn’t mean a thing …put aside my ego, see myself and who I’ve been

Straight off the bat, ‘Important’ launches into a twanging tune with country rock vibes, getting you out of your chair in an instant; you’ll be singing along by the second chorus.  Thankfully, the danceability carries on into ‘The Heart is in Her Eyes‘, a track filled with piano led jazz pop tones that lovingly wraps around the love at first sight lyrics.

Marking the band’s versatility, there are a number of genres and sounds intertwined thought this album and the band aren’t afraid to take a slower, more introspective way towards the end.  ‘Story‘ is a beautifully written and performed song about the parent/child relationship, telling the story of a life and the inevitable loss.  The tone is celebratory, particularly in the anthemic chorus:

the story of a life time revealed / walk in step with me / let it go, set it free

The final track on Arrival feels fittingly like a final track.  An upbeat song full of danceability and heart, the lyrics of ‘This Is Me‘ uplift the listener, bring light and happiness – if that’s not music is for, then I don’t what is.

Arrival was released on 16 October on No Rules Records. Get your copy here.

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