Albums: KAWALA Collection

Kawala Collection

Time Slipping Away; Good Morning; What's Up; Old Me; I Feel You; Make A Difference; Honeycomb, American Adrenaline

Label: Universal

A decade into their career, and KAWALA is calling it quits. The self-proclaimed purveyors of pop that your dad would approve of have one full-length album and an enormous catalogue of infectious singles under their belt, and before they disappear from the music scene, they are headed out on the road for one final tour and are releasing a mini album to complete their collection. Simply entitled Collection, this is an 8-track set that boasts former singles alongside a few new numbers to ensure that they leave the industry on a high.

Opening with one of their finest songs ever, Time Slipping Away, it is clear that while they may have decided it is time to move on, they leave at a point when they really could have crossed over fully into the stadium-filling band that they have always deserved to be. With epic radio hits written all over it, Time Slipping Away is a veritable bop that needs to be enjoyed by the masses. The remainder of the collection is equally impressive and showcases the diversity as musicians that they have shown time and again throughout their recording career. With pop at the core of their sound, there are elements of funk, soul, and folk that round it out faultlessly.

While there is no denying that Time Slipping Away is the most instant of the songs in the collection, the lush sing-along What's Up is tenderly uplifting, while the nostalgic Old Me is a stunning addition to a repertoire that has never failed to show its appeal. I Feel You oozes the same explosive radio appeal demonstrated on the album opener and is destined to live in your head and revisit as an earworm numerous times. In all, Collection is a release from a band that has always shone. While KAWALA may have decided it's time to hang up their stockings, this is a set of songs that will stay with their fans for a very long time.

Striking, emotional and rather addictive.