Orlando, Florida quartet Felicity crammed monster riffs, heavy breakdowns, and tasty hooks into Dear Universe.

Wasting no more than twenty seconds of fade-in preroll, the LP smashes open with "Carpe Diem," stapled against "Ignite." The gravely timbre of vocalist Damien Fagiolino is immediately showcased, as well as a deep infrastructure of the production techniques presented amongst the record, plus a guest appearance from Story of the Year's Dan Marsala. The single ebbs and flows from shells and guitars, to 808's and plugins, the seamless shifts between the two, wrapping the entire album nicely.
"Hit and Run" follows, stretching Fagiolino's vocal abilities from pop to screaming, and everywhere in between. Think early Thrice. "Pendulum" opens next with loose drop D strings from guitarists Andrew Rapier and Cory Nicholas, mirroring mood swings and another anthemic chorus. "Ghost Town" follows the same formula structurally, entering near Movielife/Jamestown territory. "You Got This" is the first break from the hard rock thus far, twisting a slow jam somewhere in the dirty-pop Simple Creatures realm.

The uplifting numbers continue with the remarkably catchy tune "The Weather," partnering infectious pop punk and a giant chorus. "Wish You Weren't Here" slows things down once again, tying self-reflection to a sonic cross between Weezer and Mest, with sappy lyrics about the celebrities Fagiolino desires to surpass. "Lonely Nights" is standard pop punk, from acoustic intro, to pogo choruses, Sugarcult level power pop, and melting angst, and is a great moment of the tracklisting. "Highs & Lows" wanders in top 40 pop, coming down from the sugar high of its predecessor. "C'est La Vie" outro's the album quite nicely, reading like a (good) Angels & Airwaves or Filter song, the wall of sound resonating the album shut after four and a half minutes.

Felicity is an unapologetically dialed-in hard/pop punk band, and the production that is Dear Universe holds the weight. Killer collection of songs, much recommend.