FIREFLIGHT – The Healing Of Harms

After five years of live practice and the EP On The Subject Of Moving Forward, Fireflight, heralding from Eustis, Florida, now also have a full-length album to boot: The Healing Of Harms. Said album title is descriptive of the lyrical themes running through the record. The issues deal with emotions, primarily those of loneliness, pride, insecurity, seeking sympathy, comfort, and turning to God for guidance in this world.

With the eleven songs clocking in at only a mere thirty-six minutes, there are several potential tracks for the Rock radio market present. The style is memorable, sharp, yet utterly melodic; it’s full of modern tendencies, has a touch of Alternative, yet follows a traditional pattern that could cater to a broader audience of today as well as the more rooted Hard Rock fan. Vocal melodies that are carried forward by the youthful, lovely voice of Dawn Richardson stand out all through the album. The musical direction is pretty similar, though not one-sided — it pretty much Rocks with tasteful arrangements spread throughout, but, by the same token, each song is a tale of its own.

“Waiting” is particularly powerful, consisting of crunchy guitars and lush, layered vocals paired with a truly catchy chorus, making it one of several potential strong tracks for the hit market. “You Decide” starts off with vocal echo effects and features bits of piano as well as the guest co-lead vocals of Days Of Fire’s Josh Brown. It starts out slower before breaking into a well-crafted chorus that bears resemblance to a lighter-style Evanescence. Def Leppard is an influence one might hear in “More Than A Love Song” in the sense of utilizing the vocal melodies, which binds the song together as its true strength, whereas “Star Of The Show” is another classic, catchy track that could generate airwaves.

Another guest vocal performance is by label friends Kids On The Way’s David Paul Polsue during “Liar,” a track that features some Nu-Metal-ish bearings, as does the shouting backing vocals on the opening track “Serenity,” but thankfully not to the same extent. These tendencies do not serve in the band’s favor.

The production of Skid Mills, who also had a hand in programming and additional guitars, is excellent. Especially the punctuated, punchy drum playing of Phee Shorb is captured well — “Attitude” is a good example of that.

The fat bass pounding of Wendy Drennen lies beneath the verses during “Something New,” while the guitars, courtesy of Justin Cox and Glenn Drennen, carry the track forward with that driven energy that flows like a thin red line during the entire album, yet never grows tiresome and works well for the band. Closing track “Action” is among the heavier tracks on offer, but still comes out on the lighter side of the proceedings because of the vocal approach.

The lyrics are all so to the point when it comes to describing feelings, that coupled with the music, it’s not hard picturing these songs functioning as drama soundtrack for a film, possibly. Fireflight certainly has talent, especially in pure songwriting craftsmanship this early on, and it will be interesting to follow their evolution, especially in this department. Managed properly, who knows just how far they can go.