The Beat Surrender

The Canadian group The Tragically Hip may have mellowed over the years, but they prove on their latest album that they still have the fire in their collective belly to make a good album that is as relevant now as it would have been twenty odd years ago when they first started out.

It’s surprising that their sound on this album is as mellow as it is, in the early days they certainly weren’t afraid of making a bit of noise and with Metallica producer Bob Rock at the controls people would have been forgiven for thinking they were going to get a louder album.

What it lacks in noise though, ‘The Hip’ make up for on We Are The Same with a sense of ambition and grandiose with soaring epics like Now The Struggle Has a Name and The Depression Suite which form the centrepiece of the album.

Elsewhere they are on fine melodic form, with Morning Moon and Money, Please and mix things up well between acoustic and electric arrangements and in a track like Coffee Girl they have a song that screams out to be a single.

The album is out now through Rounder Records.