Hawk Nelson - Made

I like Hawk Nelson. They've never blown me away but their brand of fun emo/pop punk has always found a special place in my heart. Crazy Love maybe should have been a sign that things were going to change. The album wasn't my favorite and there were only a handful of songs that I thought were good.  But with Jason Dunn leaving to pursue a solo career, I thought maybe the band would return to some fun pop punk.

I was wrong.

Made is an album that makes me scratch my head and say "what the hell?' Made is way more CCM than I could've ever imagined. It's weird. It's an album where you'd say, you lost your vocalist and changed your sound, now just change your name.

It's not that Made is a bad record. There are a lot of really good songs. The album opener, What I'm Looking For, is a nice upbeat, catchy pop song. It's a dripping CCM hit waiting to happen. It will probably be on a WOW cd (are those still a thing?). A Millions Miles Away follows that up with more pop goodness. The track is the closest thing resembling old Hawk Nelson on the record but it feels more like Owl City than Hawk Nelson at parts. Elevator is a super catchy fusion song that features Blanca Callahan from Group 1 Crew. Part hip-hop, part pop rock, all fun. Anyone But You is a fun pseudo 80's track.

There's a lot to like about Made and Hawk Nelson is going to reach a whole new group of fans. Made could be the album that makes Hawk Nelson huge in CCm circles.

But to long time fans like myself, this record is weird and disappointing. Yes, losing their lead singer makes sense to re-group and start fresh and do something different, and they do it well, but... I like pop punk.

Crazy Love makes the shift in sound less drastic and like I said, there's a ton of great song on Made. But it's different. And listeners and long time fans should be aware that the Hawk Nelson you loved is no more.