Louder Than The Music

Union State are a Scottish worship band based in Glasgow and been together since October 2009. The band are Scott on guitar and vocals, Ails on vocals, Rico on drums, Kevin on guitar, Grant plays bass and Paul on vocals and guitar. The band came together as a group of friends who grew up in Scotland and wanted to create something different and went onto create their first recording The Way You Love.

The band sound like the obvious contemporary Christian bands that are heading the scene at the moment, you can also hear the influences of U2, Delirious, Chris Tomlin and Hillsong. The band is heavily guitar driven, but that doesn’t mean they're a heavy sounding band.

This band has such a great potential and I was pleasantly surprised in the quality of what this band have managed to create in this EP. They have created radio friendly songs with the amazing, soft, heartfelt vocals of Ails, who sounds like a mix between Lou Fellingham and Sixpence The Richer front woman Leigh Nash.

The EP is 5 tracks long, and of a high quality from this Scottish band. The songs all have a similar feel, which adds to the flow of the album, with the vocals sung like every word is meant. But this band isn't just about a vocalist. The guitar work is well played and full body sounding and Rico on drums sets a steady and solid backbone to the band.

I have to mention track Burn All The Bridges Down which after a few listens to the EP became my favorite and ended up on heavy rotation on my Ipod. Another special mention has to be made to the title track The Way You Love which has a distinctive feel to a U2 track.

Union State have such an exhilarating journey ahead, and this is just the start. This band could be well worth finding out more about from their various websites. With such a high standard already set with this EP, it will be an interesting and exciting time for them. If you're interested in seeing a band grow over the next year, this could be your band.

Review by Jono Davies

LTTM Rating 3 out of 5 Stars
Standout Tracks
Burn All Bridges Down
Till The Morning