“This is not a love song,” remarks Gary Lightbody, Snow Patrol’s frontman, in the opening line of the first track, “All,” on the band’s eighth studio album, The Forest is the Path. “I’m just checking that your light’s still on / I just want to feel like I belong / But I don’t know where I am,” he continues. Sentiments like this, feeling lost in love and searching within oneself for a sense of belonging, are prevalent on the album, the first one since 2018’s Wildness. Snow Patrol have long toed the line between classic and alternative rock, with their catchiest songs gracing movie soundtracks and ruling radio airwaves. Lightbody is the only remaining original band member, and despite a serious battle with depression and alcoholism that nearly cost him his life (and necessitated long hiatuses between album releases) and the recent departure of the band’s drummer and bassist, he has kept the Snow Patrol sound and motifs intact. On The Forest is the Path, the band’s trademark balance between soaring rock anthems and mellow ballads is on full display, with a reflective depth that rewards listeners over the course of multiple listens. Similarly, in the middle of “All,” Lightbody comes to the appropriate realization after measuring up his feelings, “So I guess this is a love song after all.” Continue reading “Album Review: Snow Patrol, “The Forest is the Path””
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