7

Anthemic rock

Transfer certainly know how to put together a rousing anthem, catchy, hooky numbers with the kind of choruses that make you want to grab your hairbrush and sing into the mirror. Vocally there's touch of Bono about the tracks, but unfortunately these are often a bit too high in the mix to sit comfortably which is a shame as there's a lot of good stuff going on in the background. The record has a multi-layered sound with strings/keys, decent backing vocals and some solid riffs. 'Like It Used To Be' is a stand out, with excellent riffs and the core melody is memorable.

A few of the tunes on "Future Selves" like the aforementioned 'Like It Used To Be' and 'My Suspicions' have a hint of 70s prog-rock about them (a la Pink Floyd) and others are reminiscent of late 80s or early 90s U2, but generally the tone is straightforward and despite the odd deviation ('Get Some Rest' is a soul tune through and through) the guitar led anthemic quality of the tunes means the bulk of the album is mainstream rock with a light prog leaning and stadium aspirations and feels pretty generic.

This is a well constructed and cohesive record all in all, however it feels lost somewhere in time, resolutely refusing to acknowledge the last 20 years have happened and even though there are a few little quirks it stays in a comfortable zone with nothing too taxing or experimental so it doesn't hold your attention for very long.