Warm, inoffensive verse vocals auto-tuned just enough to shine for the radio, and a vaguely empowering and optimistic chorus are the main hallmarks of Linkin Park’s second single, ‘Battle Symphony’, which sounds an awful lot like a Hillsong single, or something bashed out quickly by the Madden Brothers for this week’s X Factor winners to rush-release as a single.
It also sounds like it could kick into the chorus of ‘I Believe’ by Blissid Union Of Souls at any point. Remember that song? Yes, you do.
This is the second song from Linkin Park’s forthcoming album One More Light to stray from their formula, with last month’s ‘Heavy’ basically being an electro pop single. Neither song features guitar heavily, either. The album isn’t out until May, but there is an element of defensiveness already creeping into press.
“The band, with every album, every song we’re trying to challenge ourselves,” Mike Shinoda told Billboard after the release of ‘Heavy’.
“We like to try new things. We want to explore new territory with the sounds and the songwriting. We’ve always been about mixing styles; I mean, Hybrid Theory was the name of our band before we changed it to Linkin Park.
“Linkin Park fans know that with every album you never know what you’re going to get, and the style can change dramatically and different elements, different genres that we listen to might sit more in the forefront than others.”
Listen to ‘Battle Symphony’ below.
