REVIEW: Storm Orchestra - Get Better

Parisian trio Storm Orchestra serve gilded age in their most recent project Get Better, combining alt-rock riffs and bouncy beats with commentary on failing expectations and life in the newfound limelight. Though many of the songs feel like safe plays, this aspect adds to the listening experience in its way; is this what you wanted?

Get Better opens with ‘Bright Soul', a drum heavy electro rock track which sets an angsty tone for this project that will evolve as the concepts are explored. It is followed by single ‘Drummer’ - a tongue and cheek pop rock number about idolising the stereotypical lifestyle of a percussionist. The nature of this beast means that Loïc Fouquet has some showing off to do and he delivers with a swing beat throughout the track before hitting a china-led breakdown as the track comes to its final chorus.

However, the first true standout song is their collaboration with Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! on ‘Crush the Mirrors’. It captivates on intro then in its first chorus hits with killer hook “Breaking my backbone”, which hits immediately then becomes an earworm after one listen. ‘Crush the Mirrors’ is a perfect example of the balance that Storm Orchestra have struck between lighter electro rock sounds and a heavy alternative rock, building the track ready for Chunk! No Captain Chunk!’s Burtrand Poncet to hit a screaming interlude. The lyrics on this offering are also some of the strongest, with verse one’s “I miss those tiny whispers singing for me/I’m always fighting reality” striking right in the teenage angst to scratch an itch not found for years.

The meat of this album includes another tongue and cheek rock single in the form of ‘Superplayer’: a certified head bopper playing on football fandom culture to explore being in a relationship where you never quite feel good enough. The stadium-rock style in the chorus and pre-breakdown work really well for this track; as a Makem, finding out that Maxime Gourdard is drawing on his experiences as a Magpie for this track was a shame, but credit where credit is due - it sounds superb.

Easier to like is the duo of album tracks that fall at the midpoint: ‘Cut Loose, Somehow’ is exemplary of the angst of this album with it's easy-to-dance-to heavy soundscape (and the adding of three claps, iykyk), while its follow up ‘Désolé’ with JJ Wilde is a tearjerker with ‘If It Means a Lot to You’ energy in its plain and raw lyrics about feeling a love you want slipping between your fingers because of the life you live. JJ Wilde’s feature works beautifully on this track as the other perspective, her lower register and reminiscent lyrics taking the listener back to the last time they held someone they knew they needed to let go.

The other side of this delicate balance is brought back in its follow up - ‘We Will Be the Last.’ Coming back in with an angsty alt-rock soundscape it speaks of a party at the end of the world while it proclaims it will be the last, with a broken up breakdown by a switch on and off that sends whatever is in the listener’s hands to the other side of the room. The energy is maintained in follow up ‘Tear Myself Down’, which hops between light building instrumental and full frontal heavy features to give a welcome metalcore feel while still serving party rock. As the crescendo hits, they take that full frontal into half time to produce another standout track on this project.

The last third of this album ties Get Better up in a lovely bow. ‘This Game’, a cheeky rock track, has a playful energy to it that would make it a good fit for a singles night in a rock bar through the way it gets the hips swinging, while ‘Our Victory’ feels like the albums official closer with the angst dialled up to max in its rallying cry against the elites and calls to action for those not apart of them. The piano even gets a rocking spin on it within the all-out soundscape, while Fouquet’s drum work is exemplary in driving the track and maintaining its tension. Get Better’s actual final track comes in the form of ‘Trash the Room’, a punk instrumental that asks its listener to do exactly that. It’s punchy yet sticks in the brain despite barely hitting 1:20 in runtime, and leaves the listener with a smile at the end of this project.

All in all, Get Better is an easy listen so long as you like rock music. It uses heavy angst without falling into cringe, and matched with the heavy soundscape and electro-rock influences it's just as easy to dance to. Conceptually it gives a party at the end of the world, with its fatalism being disguised under how easy it is to bop along to each track. It is so easy that many of the tracks feel like Storm Orchestra play each song too safe - it would be interesting to hear them explore heavier or less common sounds within their music. That said, it being safe adds to the gilded nature of this project; perfectly polished alternative rock hiding the fatalism that Storm Orchestra explore in the lyrics of Get Better.

Score: 7/10

Get Better will be released on April 11th 2025 via Mascot Records.

Words: Julia Brunton

Photos: Storm Orchestra