The first release from Leeds’ Hope&Social is a headily commercial mix of tender defiance and alluring assurance that sounds like Snow Patrol staring proudly in the mirror at their first chest hairs. Plinky-plonk piano and cheeky stabs of sharp brass hint at a playful edge beneath the toiling earnestness, teasing intricate melodies into fuzzy troughs of rich warmth to great effect on lead track ‘Daylight Came’. The crashing ‘These Walls’ and slinky ‘Heaven Falls’ also resonate with confidence and mainstream ambitions, but ultimately Hope&Social stick too close to their influences to see the potentials that lie beyond them.
