This past Sunday, or what you may know better as Valentine's Day, the loved Tom DeLonge with his Angels & Airwaves crew David Kennedy, Matt Wachter and Atom Willard released their third full length album appropriately titled Love. Following in the footsteps of many recent artists the band released the record for free on their website, also accepting donations. "The album is free for you. If you like it and want to put some money towards it, we would be grateful for your support" they've written on their in conjunction. They are also offering a track remixed by Blink 182 band mate and renowned producer Mark Hoppus if you donate. You can download your free copy here. The album opens with the instrumental "Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce" which is translated to "And he leads the world by light." This track works as a whopping opening scene to the album. Full of power and build, AVA's signature spacey sound thrives. Tom's muffled vocals over bubbling synth kick in on the next track "The Flight of Apollo." The chorus flails a heavy guitar section that connects the dots between the epic dreamlands that DeLonge aims to create to his eternal punk rock ways. Lyrics "All these shapes and colors are so it doesn’t hurt so badly/ So life doesn’t hurt, doesn’t hurt so badly" aim to inspire while "Finally I get this feeling we're all alone in one big world" throw us for a loop. Wait Tom, really? "Young London" is an upbeat song about letting helplessness aside and enjoying something as simple as a dance floor with your best friend. "Shove" opens with the lyrics "Forget the things that you own/And travel almost anywhere you can go/Dance across the tree-tips, set them ablaze." Like most of the songs on the album this track ends with an extra instrumental. A soft calming, Joshua Tree Like sequence feels like a drug. "Hallucinations" has the catchy popiness we've come to expect from big AVA songs with sounds and vocals reminiscent of We Don't Need To Whisper. "The Moon Atomic" showcases circular drum beats. Vocals are slightly monotone on this track giving sort of an intermission feel to the album. "Letters To God, Part II" is one of the most emotional on the album. Whether the title itself makes all Blink 182 fans weep remembering the good ol' days. Connecting everything that has prospered from Blink 182, the original Boxcar Racer hit sees its sequel as a mouthful of tragic disappointment. "Some Origins of Fire" closes the album with recognizable beats. Lyrics describe life as both terrible, and miraculous. The song ends with a modest bass line identical to the opening of "Valkyrie Missile" the opening track to the debut album We Don't Need To Whisper. Bringing the band entirely full circle or symbolizing some kind of grand finale. In the end Love is about just that. Not the complicated sometimes dramatic love that one would celebrate on Valentine's Day like this release would leave you to assume, but a simpler kind of love. The kind you find when just hanging out with a friend. By taking time from your nine-to-five to travel somewhere you've never been. To find the simple things in life that make you smile and forget struggles. Five years ago Tom DeLonge said he was going to change the face of rock N' Roll with this side project. Though he may not have outshined the legends, Love has the power to make you feel. Everyone has juggled the concept of life being too short and for its fleeting fifty-four minutes Love may not change the world, but it will definitely make you look at the world a bit differently. DOWNLOAD LOVE HEREAVA ON MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/angelsandairwaves
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