Album Review: Scarlet Rebels – Where The Colours Meet (Earache Records)

South Wales rockers Scarlet Rebels will release their much-anticipated new album ‘Where the Colours Meet’ on August 16th, 2024, via Earache Records.

What a journey it has been to this release, personally. From having some vague familiarity with Scarlet Rebels to thinking they are one of the best rock bands in the country, should speak volumes about the quality that has come from the singles released on route to the full album being dropped.

Singles like Secret Drug, which opens the album and emphatically states just how simple it can be to create a great rock song. Simply write a song with hooks. Do that, and we’re off to the races and it’s what Scarlet Rebels do here. The first of many impressive rock anthems with massive accessibility, and the first of many times a smile is slapped across the face.

There’s no losing that smile with Let Me In and It Was Beautiful, although with the latter, it’s a sadder one. First though, it’s the former and a thrilling, epically tinged, sing-along with a chorus that slays. Whereas the latter is simply gorgeous. A track with the melody and power to make you cry, especially because of the vocals and lyrical content. It is still, tons of plays later, one of my favourite tracks of the year.

Take a breath though, there’s a ton more still to come, and both Grace and Declining are very catchy and very memorable. With just the right amount of melodrama to make things even more infectious and a lot of strength coming from the lyrical side of things too.

The talented Elles Bailey joins Scarlet Rebels for an emotive effort called Out of Time. It doesn’t quite have the same level of dramatic impact that is found in some of the other mellow ones, but Bailey adds so much with her vocals and once again, it can be rightfully called highly enjoyable. Before Scarlet Rebels offering up some more rousing and rocking hits with How Much is Enough, Practice Run, and Streets of Fire.

The latter is one of those relevant pieces that sadly, seems to get more and more relevant day by day. The world isn’t looking any better and Scarlet Rebels try hard to verbalise their own feelings on the state of things and do so in emphatic style. It might be moody, but their inimitable passion and catchiness is still front and centre.

Who Wants to Be in Love Anyway is another absolute banger, changing up the tone with synthy pace and an 80s vein running through it. Before it’s time to move and groove to the excitable rock hit of adrenaline that comes from Divide and Conquer. An even more satisfying listen considering what happened in the time since it was released as a single. Followed by the finale of My House My Rules. A closer with heart, soul, and so much Scarlet Rebels passion that the smile will still be plastered all over the face.

It’s a near-perfect album that features banger track after banger track after banger track and so on. Not just infectiously lovable and impressively accessible, but with so much enthusiasm from Scarlet Rebels, it’s simply unforgettable as a release.

Scarlet Rebels – Where the Colours Meet Track Listing:

1. Secret Drug
2. Let Me In
3. It Was Beautiful
4. Grace
5. Declining
6. Out of Time (feat. Elles Bailey)
7. How Much Is Enough
8. Practice Run
9. Streets of Fire
10. Who Wants to Be in Love Anyway
11. Divide and Conquer
12. My House My Rules

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