Battle Scars & Broken Hearts, Darling Parade

Album Title: Battle Scars & Broken Hearts
Artist: Darling Parade
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Released With: Page 2 Music



Genre:  Pop/Rock
Rating:  10/10

Now, in 2013, it's so hard to make music without selling your soul to the devil.  Back in the day it was joked that even bands like Metallica sold their souls for amazing music.  Today's modern technology however proves that you don't need to do that.  

Darling Parade, the quartet of Nashville natives, found a way to market themselves that's quickly becoming more and more popular.  A little place called Kickstarter.  While this group had released a string of EP's over the years, a successful fundraiser made their first full-length release a reality, and boy, call it a cinderella story.  

Battle Scars and Broken Hearts covers all the basics, and is an album that you can blast out of your speakers on hot summer days while you're on your way to the gym, or a fun day out.  

The album has 11 tracks, all rolling together to be roughly 36 minutes.  And with a sound that has the outlook of bands like Paramore and Tonight Alive, you'll be ready to sing along in no-time. 



Now, as everyone knows, the first track off an album is either going to grab your attention and pull you in, or let you drift off to sea. The first ten seconds are crucial for any album.  That's going to be when you expect to be roped in.

In "When It's Over," the first track, I expected something entirely different from what was given to me.  I expected what most other artists do.  Start off hard and heavy.  It wasn't that.  It started off light, but dark at the same time.  I felt like I knew what was coming even before the vocals started in thirty or so seconds later.  Instead of the artist telling you her story, you lived it.  That's the greatest thing a band can do with an album, because music is all about connecting. 

The next track, "Ghost," is the first single off the album.  It'd faded perfectly from first track to second, which is always a plus.
This song is all about picking up the pieces and living life.  The moral of the music is this:  don't let life stop you.  We all have ghosts that haunt us.  Conquer it.  Below is the music video just as a little teaser of the album. 



Yes, the story-line in the music video is a little campy with some of the elements used, but hey, it's fun...even for such a serious song.  ...I like it.  

Moving onto track four, "Just Another," I have to say, it's great.  Even though the album is starting to slow down, it feels like it's placed perfectly.  Almost as if they'd planned it like that (imagine that a band that actually looks at the placement of their songs on an album) 

And it was rightfully placed, because the fifth track, "Change," is even more slow than "Just Another," but no less important.  During this point in the album, the story has progressed from overcoming a ghost, to breaking out of that shell that made them one in a first place.  This is the breaking point of the tale.  They'll either overcome their obstacles, or fall apart.  


Out of the entire album, my favorite track is probably "Bad Habit."  For some reason, it just makes me kind of zone out and think, and I love that.  It makes me really think about my life and all the decisions I make.  Call it a quirk, but this song is both upbeat, and dark.  It's the spring cleaning song for your mind.  

The last track, "With You," is the perfect track to end an album on.  The battle is won, and the person in the story is finally coming to terms with who she is.  The song is delicate and so different from the first track, but it's not a moment out of place.  The journey from track one to eleven happened over the entire album, and all of the tracks set the next one up.  All of the puzzle pieces are in place and now it's time for the grand finale.  


This album is amazingly well-planned, even down to the smallest of details.  I listened to this album at least five times while writing, and tried to find something wrong with it, but I couldn't.  My attention never faltered, and by the end of listen-through four I was singing along with most of the songs.  

The track-listing of Battle Scars and Broken Hearts is
1. When It’s Over
2. Ghost
3. Crash & Burn
4. Just Another
5. Change
6. Messin’ With Me
7. Bells Are Ringing
8. Coming Undone
9. Bad Habit
10. Summer
11. With You


The pacing is great, break-downs and transitions are superb, and the vocals definitely gives female vocalists a higher standard to try and surpass.  I personally, cannot wait to see what they come up with next.  

2013, meet Darling Parade:  Elegance, a new bar to raise, and awesome music. 
Darling Parade is Kristin Kearns, Nate McCoy, Dustin McCoy and Casey Conrad (not in that exact order.)



Darling Parade is on Facebook
Kristin is on Twitter
So is Casey
And who could forget Nate

and do not forget to check the Official Darling Parade Website