More about: VIstas

Vistas prove once again that indie pop and fuzzy guitars are a monumental match made in heaven with their second album What Were You Hoping to Find?, a record chock-full of fuzzy, poppy  earworms, including singles ‘Start Again’ and ‘Dayglow’. 

The Scottish trio released their debut album Everything Changes in The End back in early 2020  before the pandemic hit and were then stuck unable to tour the album twiddling their thumbs. If this latest album proves anything, it’s that the boys have seized every opportunity that they’ve had the last 16 months and used it to refine a collection of songs that’s on par with, if not better than, their first release. 

WWYHTF encapsulates the pop-tinged, coming-of-age feel of their first record and early singles and blends it with a feel of confidence and complexity. Every hook feels gigantic as the overly-distorted guitars crash in to punch through every line. When you accompany this with the catchiness of the lyrics and riffs it’s hard not to love the sounds and sing along. The second single off WWYHTF, ‘Stuck in Your Head’ literally does what it says on the tin and gets stuck in your head—for all the right reasons. 

However, it’s ‘Start Again’ that stand out as something a bit different with the  falsetto vocals nodding to influences like Harry Styles’ ‘Treat People with Kindness’, which is apt given the band’s cover of ‘Adore You’ that came out in October of 2020. So often you see indie bands reject any kind of mainstream influence in an attempt to seem unique, so it’s refreshing to see Vistas dive headfirst into something fresh.  

Vistas also aren’t afraid to open up and be transparent in their songwriting, ‘Some Are Not Meant to Belong’ shows a deeper and beautiful side to their songwriting talents. A refreshing, ballad-esque melody that tells the story of living as an outsider. The lyrics are almost too sad to enjoy the song, yet there’s something calming about the vocal melodies and the way the warm electric piano soundscapes the back of the track. The way it fades into ‘The Love That You Leave Behind’, too, to close the album on an astounding high  is almost effortless. 

There was always a risk with the second album. You can spend as long as you want perfecting your debut and then there’s a rush to get the next one ready. This is not one of those times. What Were You Hoping to Find? is an example of great musicians making great music: it’s three friends who enjoy writing songs together for no reason other than the love of the game, and it shows in the way they consistently produce all killer and no filler.

What Were You Hoping To Find? is out now.

More about: VIstas