“Some Nights” is the sophomore album from indie-pop band Fun. The band is made up of Nate Ruess, former vocalist of The Format, Jack Antonoff of Steel Train on guitar and trumpet and Andrew Dost of Anathello on keyboard, bass, percussion and a number of other instruments. The band has been around for about four years now, and though the first LP, _Aim and Ignite_ didn’t find the same amount of success as the first single off of _Some Nights_, the band has been slowly but surely rising to the level of success it is on now.
The album starts off with a simple piano melody and slow but steady vocals. The suspense builds consistently throughout the two-minute song and ends with an incredibly powerful chord that shows off the vocal range of Ruess.
The title track leads from this powerful moment and switches the feel over to a more campy folk-influenced theme, playing with vocal tones and harmonies. Despite the unique musical feel to the song, the center focus is that of the extremely personal lyrics.
The first single off the album was “We Are Young,” featuring soulful songstress Janelle Monae. The song gained momentum on popular charts after appearing on the cult-followed “Glee” and in a Chevrolet commercial with Rob Dyrdek. After the exposure and good reception of this single, both the “Glee” version and the original climbed to No. 1 on the iTunes charts.
More highlights of the album are found in the solemn but emotional “All Alright,” where the tale of someone who’s given up on love or commitment sings the woes of being young and watching this youth diminish daily.
On the new album, Fun. worked with producer Jeff Bhasker, who has experience producing for artists such as Beyonce, Drake and Kanye West. This shows through on songs like “It Gets Better,” in which Fun. uses auto-tune as an instrument in the rhythm, melodies and backing vocals. Some fans might be put off by the obvious hip-hop influences that show up in this album, but it shows the versatility and open-mindedness that a good band should possess.
The album technically comes out Tuesday, but the band made all of the songs (including bonus track “Out On The Town,” a dreamy song where Ruess reminisces about the past and how he’s gotten to where he is and basically defines adolescence and lost love) available to fans on its website, [ournameisfun.com](http://ournameisfun.com).
Overall, _Some Nights_ proves incredible growth from a band that has already learned and grown so much to reach the level of success it currently enjoys. One can only imagine the progress that will be made by the time its third album is released.
