“Who could secure, who could soothe my future days?
Who provides without first taking away?”

Since their ‘90s heyday, Collective Soul have mostly flown under the radar, churning out solid alternative rock records that built upon their previous work and incorporated modern trends only sparingly. They’re not trying to reinvent themselves, but to iterate within their own domain, to refine their signature strain of melodic, riff-heavy, hook-filled post-grunge.

Vibrating, their eleventh studio album, was originally slated to come hot on the heels of their tenth, 2019’s well-received Blood. Scratch that—it was originally planned as the second half of a double album before plans changed to releasing the two halves back-to-back. But it’s easier to sell albums when you’re selling tickets, and when the band found themselves locked down with the rest of the world in 2020 and unable to tour, they decided to hold off on releasing the album. It was finally released in 2022 midway through the band’s tour with Switchfoot.

Vibrating is neither a revelation nor a letdown. Where some hardcore fans were disappointed by the delay and thus predetermined to be disappointed that it isn’t “new,” less committed fans like myself are just happy to have a new batch of tunes to sing along with in the car. And Vibrating is certainly good for that purpose, as are most Collective Soul releases. Across the album’s ten tracks, there’s a pleasant balance between raw instrumentation and fancy production flourishes. Studio banter and gritty guitar tones are thrown into the mix alongside sweeping choruses, gentle acoustic guitars, and dense arrangements (including occasional strings) as Ed Roland contemplates love, religion, hope, regret, malaise. Tracks vary in tempo and texture—often within the same song—ensuring that the album has a pleasant flow and songs don’t bleed together. The multiple guitar setup generates slick solos and dynamic interactions, while a few light experiments (the uniquely structured verses of “A Conversation With”, the traffic sounds in “Where Do I Go”) show the band is still willing to try new things.

The mirror shows,
Reflections of a man I’ve never known.

Dean Roland, Will Turpin, Johnny Rabb, and Jesse Triplett deserve credit for bringing these songs to life and filling them with vibrant touches (as does “sixth member” Shawn Grove). However, unsurprisingly, the overpowering presence on the album is singer and primary songwriter Ed Roland, whose unique vocal delivery remains the band’s distinguishing characteristic. Deep and forceful when he wants it to be, Roland frequently writes himself into a husky falsetto; the modulation between these two extremes is more or less distinctive.

Vibrating doesn’t push the boundaries of rock music, but neither does it underwhelm expectations. It’s another solid Collective Soul album: forty minutes of lively, energetic rock music varied enough to avoid growing stale—a remarkable thing for a band entering its third decade.

Favorite Tracks: Take; Rule No. 1; Just Looking Around.