Columbus - A Hot Take on Heartbreak

Rating:

Littered with potential hit singles.

Packaging teenage angst with infectious pop-rock is a trick as old as time itself, meaning Columbus’ ‘A Hot Take On Heartbreak’ is anything but the purported ‘hot take’. It does, however, sound like summer – and that it is something we can fully get behind.

In fact, ‘A Hot Take On Heartbreak’ is an undeniable amount of fun, adding a healthy dose of wry humour and tongue-in-cheek melodrama to offset the relationship break-up torment. Combined with some wickedly smart pop-rock, it makes for a winning concoction of easy-on-the-ear crowd pleasers.

Frontloaded to the max, the first half of ‘A Hot Take…’ is stellar – like a greatest hits collection of Weezer, All American Rejects and Fountains of Wayne stellar. Heavy on the pop and breezy summer vibes, it’s the sort of start that could win over even the most ardent of critics.

The second half – bookended by the objectionable ‘Piece of Shit’ and obligatory acoustic closer ‘Feel This Way’ – much less so. That said, cuts like the punchy ‘Cut It Out’ and ‘Difficult Conversations’ at least add much-needed variety, even if they feel a touch out of place.

However, after the success of ‘Spring Forever’, ‘A Hot Take On Heartbreak’ ensures Columbus have safely navigated the pop-punk to pop-rock jump safely, and the Aussie group’s appeal will only broaden as a result. Littered with potential hit singles, Columbus could get some serious mileage out of ‘A Hot Take…’ as more and more people take them to heart. Rob Mair