Tiara : Chained to the Crown Review

Tiara's new release "Chained to the Crown" blazes new trails for the iconic Columbus band.

The recording of CttC has a stark 'wide open spaces' quality, and this seems to say something about the current direction for the band.

"I think it's really hopeful, which, for me is kind of strange," said Tiara frontman Eric Rottmayer, defining the mood of the record. "It's definitely a contrast. A lot of the other (older) stuff is a little more emotional. I wouldn't say emo, but a lot of people put that tag on it."

CttC is of an inrospective tone, in lieu of the driven indie-pop that Tiara is more well-known for. A good example of this is "Expert Eyes", whose deliberateness is punctuated by a choral repetition of the phrase "expert eyes". The next track, "Green and Grey" has a defined country flavor, Rottmayer's soft croon complemented by new member Erik Kang's slide guitar.

If anything else, while representative of Tiara days of yore, introductory track "We Learned from the Best" and the next three tracks collectively detract from the overall meditative feel. These songs, particularly "No Better for It" are very good songs in their own right, but stick out when clumped together in an upbeat chunk in the beginning of the record.

Chained to the Crown when listened to as a whole, is an emotionally complex collection of songs which manage to be wistful about growing older while still looking to a future full of promise.

to think how long we've gone and how far/ from "we're the same" to "the next face"

With a strong promotional effort to follow the Chained to the Crown October 25th national release, thanks to label We Want Action, it seems like Tiara finally has a chance to be one of the next faces in the national arena of indie rock.