Hanson's 2023 Member EP Review: Ambient

I've been TERRIBLE at blogging during Hanson month!! 😩 There's been a lot going on...stay tuned for an update...but I couldn't let May slip by without giving a review of Hanson's 2023 Member EP Ambient. It's beautiful and unique and 100% Hanson and I've been really enjoying it! I wouldn't say this tops White Rabbit...but it's still a really solid EP!

I'M READY - My FAVORITE track from Ambient. It immediately made me think of Running by NF (since NF is all I was listening to up until now, haha. I've had his HOPE album on repeat!). It's the perfect follow-up song. Hanson, as always, encourages positivity and belief in oneself, which is where NF is headed. And is where I am trying to get to. It's so beautiful! This song is a new theme song for me as I try to "begin again." Reset my life. Start Over. Take new risks and challenge myself to live more fully. It's such a good song! 💜🙌😭 

Favorite line(s): "Well I’ve lived with all the fear. That I’ll drown here at the break. But I know I can’t stay here, another day...I’m ready, I’m ready...I’m needing, more now than I’ve ever been. Little bit of courage, so I can discourage the doubt within. If the horizon, is more than a distant line...[CHORUS]: I’m ready, I’m ready for, the barriers to come down. I’m ready for, the barriers to come down, down, down, down."

THE WEIGHT OF EMOTION -  Well that's a loaded title, haha. This sounds very similar to Strange World and I'm totally here for it!! It's gorgeous and magical. ✨ The lyrics are hard-hitting and powerful. This song made me tear up as I was listening to it as it made me think of my bond with my sweet little dog who is no longer here. 💔 The words hold true for me in how I felt (and still feel) about him while we were together. The joy and happiness he brought into my life each day and the searing pain that I still feel with him gone...the weight of all the emotions. I guess that's how you know you really love someone.

Favorite lines(s): "Sometimes you feel like you know, that you’ll never be the same. There’s just a feeling of change, and that you’re never going back....What does it mean to know love? And how can you make it stay? [CHORUS]: What is the weight, weight of emotion? That brings you down to your knees. Why do we feel, so humble and broken, when faced with losing something real? [POST-CHORUS: Shower your face with tears. Show every act of devotion. Love more than you love yourself. Maybe the pain is so we long to heal 🥺😭💔... Some days so perfect that you want to live it over again. And just keep playing it over and over again." 

A LIFE WITHOUT YOU - I'm in LOVE with the guitar intro at the beginning of this song!! 😍 Gorgeous!! And that's probably the best part about the whole song and one of the only things I love 😬...this song is soooo Isaac! 😂 It's the classic ballad about the loss of love. It reminds me of More Than Anything musically...subject matter is obviously very different. It's my least favorite song on the EP for sure, too slow and sappy for my taste. C'mon guys! Let Ike take lead on some of the more up tempo stuff!! Your Eyes (White Rabbit EP - 2022), No Matter the Reason (RGB - 2022), Missing Needing, Wanting You (Crossroads EP - 2021), Begin Again (Continental Breakfast (In Bed) EP - 2020)...there's a theme here! 😴 But, I think he enjoys, maybe even prefers, these slower, more mellow, heartfelt songs...because he seems to like to write and sing a whole lotta them! It just gets kinda old...sorry Ike!! Don't get me wrong, I do like a good, heartfelt ballad every now and tehn but....every EP?? Not so much. I have to say, even though the song isn't my favorite, I was very impressed to learn that Isaac wrote this song in 1995 at 15 years old! So, it's been waiting for an official release for quite sometime now...glad it found it's home on Ambient!

Favorite line: [CHORUS]: Every night I cry myself to sleep. Thinking about, how wonderful our life could be and I know, that you should be here with me. But I couldn’t make you stay, I let you get away. Now, I’m living a life, a life without you. Don’t wanna live in a life, a life without you." 

FOR YOU - This song is 💓😍 BREATHTAKING!!  It feels so old-school, classic, sweet, romantic, love song in the purest and simplest way. It's almost like a lullaby. It gives me Nat King Cole vibes but in a "modern" way. The melody and harmonies and piano all make it sound so lush and beautiful. I could imagine slow-dancing in the kitchen with my husband to this song...my hypothetical, some day, maybe husband of course. It's swoon-worthy romantic! 

Favorite line(s): "Every moment, of every day. You sound like a sonnet, a fantasy play. But still I say no. Something this good is too good to be true. But out in the chaos, missing your vibrance. I tried to listen, but heartstrings were silent. Can’t say I know why, but I know that one heart is beating for two. For you...I’m gaining your heart but I’m giving you mine. You had me right from the start, so it should be no surprise." 

WHERE YOU COME FROM -  The chorus of this song is super catchy and gives me travel vibes for some reason...even though it talks about "coming home" haha. It's a fun, upbeat, little diddy. And Zac's voice on "You've been away, way too long." Is FREAKING INCREDIBLE!! 🤩👌 It also reminds me of the song Home by Phillip Phillips a little bit. It's just a cool, fun song! And, as I mentioned, Zac's voice SLAAAAAYS!!

Favorite line(s): "Maybe your wounds are, what will keep you here. Know that some pain takes, more than time to heal. If you find that you’re, at the end of your rope. Know there’s always somewhere left, that you can find some hope [CHORUS]: It’s time to go home. You’ve been away, way too long. Home. That place where you come from. It’s time to go home. You’ve been away, way too long. Home. That place where you come from."