To quote the Carnegie Foundation, “is the album you listened to worth fifteen dollars of some parent’s hard-earned money?” Whether you pay for the album yourself or not, “Let The Road” by Rixton is a valuable album. You might have heard Rixton’s hit single, “Me and My Broken Heart,” or more recently, “Wait on Me” or “Hotel Ceiling,” all over the radio. Jake Roche, Charley Bagnall, Danny Wilkin, and Lewi Morgan bring us upbeat, lively music- music that you should highly consider giving a listen. Rixton is an up-and-coming British pop band with an eclectic style not often heard in this mainstream genre. Being partial to indie and alternative music, I never found myself enjoying songs of this style. But as I listened to it, I found myself enjoying it more and more. Rixton’s ten-piece album has varying melodies and soft harmonies with soulful instrumentals, with “Me and My Broken Heart” even ranking #14 here in the US and #1 in the UK.
If you are looking for quality literature accompanied by lulling sounds, this album might not be for you. Due to my taste in music and my need to find meaning in what I listen to, I couldn’t help but wonder why love is the common topic and how valid these young interpretations of love were. I ask myself when listening to art what the meaning of the music is and what I will get out of it. But when it comes to this kind of music, it shouldn’t be analyzed, like a work of poetry as I have a tendency to do. When listening to this album, it should be relaxing and uplifting. That’s what this is. Although it’s not extremely poetic or meaningful, and follows the same shallow themes of love and lust seen often in today’s popular music, it has quality. And when everything in our lives is stressful and analytical, our music doesn’t need to be completely meaningful too. That is why this music is worth listening to. It made me happy- what more could you ask for?
I strongly recommend “Let The Road.” Rixton is a band composed of beautiful tenor voices with accents that ever so subtly show through in their songs. It dabbles on topics of monogamy and girls, with a song solely dedicated to the entire female population, called “I Like Girls.” Rixton’s album is not the most inspiring, but it is upbeat and fun- go give it a listen on YouTube or preview and purchase it at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/let-the-road/id923416332.