AMERICA - A Land of Love and Dreams

With the charged title AMERICA, one expects this album to have powerful social commentary, and it does not fail to deliver. We find that more and more artists are using their art as a lens through which to view the world. In their fifth studio album, the trio Thirty Seconds to Mars incorporates new electric and pop elements, while tackling controversial issues like political polarization and war, giving a very emotive and personal account.

Songs like Walk on Water and Hail to the Victor are their most electronic-heavy and aggressive songs. In Walk on Water, the bass beat coupled with the multitude of background vocals builds up an increasing amount of energy with every chorus. It’s loud and chaotic and the accusatory line “Do you believe you can walk on water?” cuts right through the rest of the orchestrated madness. This is definitely an angry song. It sounds as though he has been wronged, and this is his outburst. The album truly connects with the listeners in the way of how raw and uncensored it is. They are really making listeners feel as if they are present at a protest just by sitting in their room.

The trio shows artistic versatility with their more tender songs, one of these including Great Wide Open. Jared Leto’s emotional vocals over warm synths creates a beautiful mental image. The song’s patriotic nature reminds me of the sentiment of those who founded this country. This is contrasted with the almost desperate-sounding Rescue Me, where Leto sings “Rescue me from the demons in my mind,” which delves into the mentality of many Americans who are unsure of the future and are calling out for assurance. Jared Leto sings like he’s someone who is trapped and doesn’t know how to escape, so all that is left is to yell. Even the way that he sings the words “Rescue Me,” sounds like he’s crying out for help. It’s about losing hope when you can’t seem to run from your problems any longer.

Apart from their social commentary, love is an important topic in their new album. Most noticeable in Love is Madness, they exhibit a trend that often defines love as dangerous and erratic. The verses are slow and sensual, with explosive choruses where Jared Leto and Halsey trade off with lines such as, “I never said that I would be your lover, I never said that I would be your friend.” The choruses feel cathartic, and I find myself singing along unreservedly, remembering my own frustrations with past loves. The music helps to tell a story about a very unromanticized concept of love. Where it is irrational, confusing, and sometimes even controlling. In this song, love is equated to insanity, and everything else supports this idea.

The song Dangerous Night sounds similar to Up in the Air from their fourth studio album, Love Lust Faith and Dreams, but is less introspective and definitely shows influence from Zedd, who helped to produce it. With the question “Do you wanna cross that line,” it’s as if a lover is asking me if I trust them enough to do something that scares me.

Overall, Thirty Seconds to Mar's new album AMERICA is both raw and honest and combines their electronic influences with their past experience to create something very moving and intimate.