Sep 24

Sep 24 Angels & Airwaves - Lifeforms

Angels & Airwaves
Lifeforms
Release Date: September 24th, 2021
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Rise Records

Tom DeLonge is many things. He was one half of the charismatic frontmen that made up the pop-punk trio Blink-182(although they have not ruled a reunion out in the future). He is the mind behind the band I’m reviewing today, Angels & Airwaves, a project first begun in the aftermath of a messy departure from Blink in the early 2000s that has been described as “half art project, half band”. He is also the mind behind To The Stars, an initiative founded by DeLonge that has advanced his lifelong obsession with UFOs, extraterrestrial life and the search for evidence that there is other life living among us in the universe.

DeLonge has been criticized and challenged for his viewpoints on UFOs for as long as I can remember, and his work with To The Stars has been a large reason for his presence in the press over the last several years. Regardless of what you think of his work related to seeking out beings from other worlds and dimensions, we can all agree that he is a great songwriter and performer. I’m glad Angels & Airwaves are still going, bringing forth their sixth studio album, Lifeforms (out today via Rise Records).

From front to back, the album is well-constructed, with a great opener (the powerful “Time Bomb”) and endearing closer (“Kiss & Tell”, something that could have worked its way into a Blink-182 release post-Neighborhoods). The second track, “Euphoria”, is a track that could have also passed as later Blink, yet the rest of the album pulls from influences that are either more industrial or more, for lack of a better term, “new wave”. “She’s Automatic”, sounds exactly like something The Cure would have written, while other tracks like “Spellbound” and “A Fire In A Nameless Town” mix full-band elements with lush synthesizers and electro-tinged melodies.

“Restless Souls” could actually act as the sequel-in-spirit to one of Angels & Airwaves’ biggest tracks, I-Empire’s “Everything’s Magic”, while “Rebel Girl” pulls the same bounce and essence of the Angels & Airwaves we’ve come to know over the years. The only track that feels somewhat out of place is “No More Gunz”; while I did like the song, it doesn’t seem to match the identity of the others, instead feeling like material that would appear on a latter Green Dayalbum, taking influence from the energy of 50s-and-60s rock n’ roll.

A common lyrical theme throughout Lifeforms deals with never giving up, always finding a reason to persevere, even in the most difficult of circumstances. While it’s highly prevalent on tracks like “Time Bomb”, it is addressed the most on “Losing My Mind”, a song that finds DeLonge on the edge of a breakdown, yet still maintaining his composure. This is the only track that seems to reference any of his work outside of music (“Stop now, what is this bullshit/I said we’re not alone, and the government knows it”). If anything, Lifeforms is a perfect example of how to classify Angels & Airwaves; you really can’t. There may be common lyrical themes, and some songs may be like others, but you can’t really pin them down as “one style”. DeLonge’s project is a living, breathing organism, constantly shifting form, and bringing forth the familiar along with the unexpected.