The first thing that might come to mind when a listener sees the title of The Script’s new album, “Science & Faith,” coupled with the image of two hands joined together, are the religious undertones. That’s as pronounced as it gets, however.
On the title track, the Ireland-based band downplays the role of science in the face of love. The lyrics are clever during the song, but not surprisingly, a little sappy.
Most of the album is fraught with a similar dose of sentimental mush. “If You Ever Come Back” describes how the door is always open for the narrator’s ex, who apparently left him. The vocals are almost sad in their hopeful yearning for someone that’s clearly not coming back. More entertaining is the song that immediately follows, “Long Gone and Moved On,” which takes a more realistic look at what happens when a lover leaves.
The major problem with the group is that it all sounds somewhat rehashed. Part of the problem is that singer Danny O’Donoghue is a vocal mirror to Jason Mraz. Drummer Glen Power prevents the group from sounding too much like Mraz with his aggressive approach to the instrument, but it’s not enough to make the band truly sound different in a wider scheme.
The band makes several attempts to diversify in the form of short blasts of hip-hop inspired vocals. “Dead Man Walking” opens with some quick words, and in the third verse of “This = Love,” O’Donoghue does his best Linkin Park impression by switching gears to a hip-hop delivery. Unfortunately, “This = Love” is also the end-all for the album’s sappy songs, and leaves a sour taste in the mouth for the last two tracks.
The Script is not a ground-breaking group by any means. Even if its vocalist didn’t sound like another artist, the band still has a long way to go before it has its own sound.
