Cullman, AL rock quartet Shallow Side have been up to a lot since they released Saints & Sinners 5 years ago. While the upcoming album Reflections doesn’t make it apparent, the four piece have been working on it for some time, with the first single “The Worst Kind” releasing all the way back in 2022. They didn’t have a lot of room to tour in 2020 on their previous album, so it opened the door to getting to work right away on recording a follow-up to Saints… and the relative quick turnaround shows a renewed focus - Reflections is an improvement on their previous work in every way, elevating songwriting, lyrical cohesion and riffs to combine into one extremely potent smattering of rock’n’roll. A talented troupe of varied producers (such as Kile Odell and Chris Dawson) takes the experience even further, creating a clean and crisp package that sounds as pleasing as it is heavy.

The album has - like previous outings - a strong focus on contrasting groovy hard rock riffs, tuned to the floor, with hard-hitting heartfelt lyrics.  This time around, lead crooner Eric Boatright wastes no time jumping into the album’s repeated lyrical theme - heartbreak - singing ‘I thought I knew all of your dirty secrets; Till I found out that I’m not the deepest one’ after a pounding riff from axeman Corey Red as lead song “The Worst Kind” gets things started with a hell of a bang. Boatright spends a lot of time dwelling on loss, love, and rejection, which can be a bit of a heavy inkwell to repeatedly dip an inkwell into. Boatright hits on this topic quite a bit, like similarly in Antilight where he opens the chorus with “Done wrecking myself; You put me through hell; Now there’s nothing left to talk about; I don’t wanna feel this”. The album occasionally has some trouble with songs’ content running together, but Shallow Side sidestep this problem delicately, skillfully layering Eric’s descents with melodic instrumentation and the occasional sweeping, epic solo that form a cohesive piece that uplifts as much as it brings down.

Likewise, the rhythm section for an album like this plays an incredibly important role, needing to maintain a solid backdrop to let the guitars and vocals shine through, and Heath Fields & Sam Bower form an intimidating one-two groove punch. Fields’ textured, varied drumming keeps each song feeling fresh when the lyrical content slips into familiar territory, keeping the whole album fresh. Likewise Bower’s bass work goes beyond simply following the guitar, taking moments of low energy to shine and demonstrate a unit in harmony. Another element that sets the album apart is the usage of some industrial-influenced synthesizer and creative production, giving the songs a lot of identity and differentiation in rhythm to keep things feeling fresh.

A good rock album is all about combining headbangable moments with emotional resonance and relatable lyrics, and to that end Shallow Side’s Reflections delivers in spades. Those looking for an album that will deliver melancholy and delight in equal measure need look no further than this incredibly solid slab of granite. Reflections drops July 19th, out on Thermal Entertainment, so make sure to check it out!