Secrets Release Polished Sophomore Album

Post-hardcore band Secrets have released their sophomore album Fragile Figures this week. Unlike their debut, last year's The Ascent, the album production is a little more polished and the songs are more cohesive.
That being said, the songs on the album just aren't as memorable as some of the songs off of their debut. While the songs "How We Survive," "Maybe Next May" and the single "Ready For Repair" are all great, they lack the spark of songs like "Somewhere In Hiding" or "The Heartless Part" off their last record.
"Artist Vs. Who?," "Wasted Youth (Part 1)" and "The Architect (Part 2)" all blend together, making the middle portion of the record sound repetitive.
"Live Together, Die Alone" and "Forever and Never" are album highlights, having a different swagger about them.
The best thing about this band and this album is the clean vocals by Richard Rogers. His clean choruses are what makes the songs great. On songs like the title track and "Maybe Next May," Rogers' cleans are emotional and powerfully sung.
Rogers sings with such passion that is only met by new unclean vocalist Aaron Melzer. Melzer isn't as good of a screamer as their former unclean vocalist Xander Bourgeois. Many of the songs seem to have more unclean vocals than usual to show off Melzer.
The album closes on a high note with the acoustic ballad "Sleep Well, Darling." The song is a sad breakup ballad with Rogers showing off his passionate vocals. The band could use more songs like this on future albums.
Fragile Figures is a great album, but Secrets could use more clean vocals from Rogers.