By Olivia Lang ’15 | Features Editor

Released last Tuesday, Cold War Kids’ new album, “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts,” failed to meet the lively expectations that the album’s pre-released single created.

The single, “Miracle Mile,” features an upbeat, vivacious piano accompanied by strong vocals. The song is one that a listener might imagine rocking out to on a summer day with the windows down. Disappointingly, it is the only song on the album with such a spirited theme.

The album, on the other hand, exhibits a dreary sound, signature to Cold War Kids. Cold War Kids’ melancholic beats and slow paced songs have become too predictable. While the songs are by no means bad, they would see better success in the drear of winter as opposed to trying to bloom now with early spring. The band most definitely does not lack talent, but instead made poor executive decisions in the construction of this album.

There are, however, gems found within the otherwise boring “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts.” The combination of the catchy piano and dazzling drums in the song “Jailbirds” is the direction towards which Cold War Kids should head.

Electronic synthesizers have a subtle presence on the album, not enough to say the band has plummeted into the 21st century, but only that Cold War Kids is dipping their toe in.

The tune “Loner Phase” is techno only in a timid sense. The unique mix of instruments is perfectly complementary to lead singer Nathan Willet’s one-of-a-kind voice. Because of this, “Loner Phase” is one of the most impressive songs to be birthed on “Dear Miss Lonelyhearts.”

The last two songs of the CD, the title song and “Bitter Poem,” house the greater bulk of the dissatisfaction.

The title song is a slow, long song that trudges along rather than flows. Despite the fact that each individual aspect of the song is in check, the pieces fall short of being a symphonic song.

Topping just over five minutes long, “Bitter Poem” is a tune that listeners simply tire of after about four minutes. The song exhibits bridges that seem to last for decades, which do little to keep the attention of the listener.

This being their fourth studio album, it makes sense that Cold War Kids would stick to their signature sound. Nevertheless, “Miracle Mile” had fans hoping for something new, something lively and upbeat from the tried and true band. Cold War Kids from that standpoint did not meet the fans’ expectations.

“Dear Miss Lonelyhearts” did its duty in introducing 10 new Cold War Kids songs, some of which were extraordinary and others that are not worth the $0.99. The album faltered in its inability to overwhelm its listeners, to give its listeners something fresh and new from Cold War Kids. With those factors taken into account, the album earned a B-.