Life has its share of ups and downs and no one knows that better than SAVES THE DAY frontman Chris Conley. For the past seventeen years Conley has been bearing his soul and reinventing his musical identity with each successive step, a process that is clearly culminating with SAVES THE DAY's seventh full-length Daybreak. The third part of a trilogy that also includes 2006’s Sound The Alarm and 2007’s Under The Boards, the act’s latest disc sees Conley moving past the anger and frustration that has defined the band’s last two albums and rediscovering a sense of wonder with the world that he can’t wait to share with his listeners.
Daybreak is also the first SAVES THE DAY album to feature guitarist Arun Bali, bassist Rodrigo Palma and drummer Spencer Peterson (the latter of whom was replaced by Claudio Rivera shortly after the album was completed) and Conley insists that his band’s participation and encouragement was integral to the final product.
That transformed spirit is evident in every note of Daybreak (which was co-produced by the band and longtime collaborator Marc Hudson) from the ten-minute long, five-movement self-titled opener to instantly infectious pop gems like “Let It Go” and “Living Without Love.” That said, Daybreak also sees the band stretching out musically on the middle-eastern-inflected “Chameleon” and incorporating full-fledged guitar solos on “Deranged & Desperate.”
Conley’s positive outlook took a dejected turn shortly after In Reverie’s touring cycle ended, due to both external and internal pressures—and the making of this trilogy is as much an artistic statement as it is a chronicle of Conley’s own cathartic journey from the depths of his own insecurity into accepting himself and the world for what they are. This therapeutic journey is evident on every song on Daybreak, mostly literally on tracks like “1984,” which starts with the Under The Boards-esque statement “I’m dead inside and dying every day,” but quickly resolves into “I need your love/I’m trying to rise above/I need you to bring me back to life,” during the song’s chorus.
Whether you’ve followed his music since SAVES THE DAY’s hardcore-inflected ‘90s output or are a recent convert to the band, you’ll still be able to enjoy the album as a singular statement on what it means to let go. “This feels like I’ve wrapped up a chapter in my life and now I’m faced with a new beginning,” Conley says. “I can honestly say that I couldn’t be more excited about the future of this band.”
SAVES THE DAY'S album 'Daybreak' is out now on 3Wise/Sony.
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