SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEAR ROUGE – LONESOME HIGH

DEAR ROUGE
LONESOME HIGH
PHEROMONE RECORDINGS/CADENCE RECORDS

Dear Rouge consists of husband-and-wife team of Drew and Danielle McTaggart. In the past 10 years they have established themselves as one of the best Canadian alternative rock bands around and have become known for their electrifying dance rock tracks. With Lonesome High, Dear Rouge creates more terrific dance-rock songs that are incredibly addictive.

Lonesome High opens up with three fantastic earworms; “Goon”, “Too Close To The Heat”, and “Cutting Teeth”. They all have crunchy, juicy, and sharp guitar riffs, driving and upbeat dance beats, infectious energy, and captivating and unforgettable choruses. These songs fire on all cylinders and are an outrageously entertaining time.

Other highlights include “Garbage” and “Wallpaper”. “Garbage” features some remarkable songwriting and is full of beautiful and genuine emotion. “Wallpaper” has a fantastic balance of groovy retro-sounding synths and kinetic garage rock guitar riffs. Booming drums combined with the loud screams of Danielle McTaggart also make for an explosive finale. It is just as good as the first three tracks, and you probably will not come across a dance-rock song this year that comes close to matching their level of excellence.

The standout track from the album is “Lonesome High”, demonstrating Dear Rouge’s versatility. They are just as good at making slow ballads as they are at making energetic and lively dance rock tunes. McTaggart’s vocals are dazzling, and the piano is gorgeous.

Overall, L onesome High is a smashing success. The album is filled with terrific dance rock songs that deliver the goods.

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