Reviewed by Jeremy Chalmers

Red Umbrella are a Canadian rock group and 'Wishing For Boardwalk' is their 13 track debut album. This group has a very retro rock feel to them, there is good use of distortion that seems to flow from a solid foundation of funk, sounding much like a Christian cross between The Beatles and a hint of Maroon 5. This album his a very likeable mix of upbeat tracks such as "Straight Jacket" (which to start with sounds like it's going to be an energetic dance track but is followed with a funky guitar riff) and also "We've Already Won", a lyrically triumphant and uplifting song that has a U2 vobe to it with lead guitar clearly influenced by The Edge. All the songs on this album seem to have a fairly upbeat feel to them, however there are tracks that are slightly softer round the edges, for example "Slide" which starts off with some very melodic piano that is joined by some smooth electric guitar after the first chorus. Listening to this record I found that it had to grow on me a little bit (if you give it time it certainly does), however it's the lyrics that first grabbed my attention. Lead singer Jeremy Michaelis and brother Dennis have penned lyrics that search for a meaning that is deeper than that of their surroundings, with songs like "We've Already Won" speaking of the victory of Jesus and resonating a similar call to that of the apostle Paul in Philippians. And also songs like "Home" that hint at a real sense of desire for intimacy.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.