DAY6’s “When You Love Someone” confirms that they’ve fallen into a rut

The beauty behind the kind of sustained release schedule DAY6 has utilized this year is that it gives an artist the opportunity to display a wide variety of sounds without the risk and money that goes into a full-fledged, long-anticipated comeback. But over the past few months, I fear that DAY6 are started to fall into a bit of a rut, essentially releasing the same kind of song over and over. Fans of the band will already be predisposed to love a song like “When You Love Someone“, but I don’t see how its risk-averse approach would win over those who might not already be interested.

Though the ‘Every DAY6‘ project has been pretty consistent so far, “When You Love Someone” is easily my least-favorite of its promoted tracks. For a group that kicked 2017 off with the dynamic, go-for-broke “I Wait“, “When You Love Someone” feels like a total slog in comparison. Its tempo and energy are not too dissimilar from “I Loved You“ from earlier this month, but none of its elements connect this time around. The verses are slowed to a crawl, and though the group’s trademark harmonies help to bolster the arrangement, the chorus never really takes off.

My concern is that we’ve reached the point in ‘Every DAY6’ where the band are struggling to pump out title track worthy material. This is completely understandable. I mean, what group truly has twelve title tracks in them during one calendar year? And maybe it’s okay that ‘Every DAY6’ becomes as much a spotlight on their B-sides as it is an opportunity for promotion. But the thing is, “When You Love Someone” wouldn’t even rank among their more memorable album tracks. There’s a certain energy that’s been lacking since the spring, and I hope the guys rekindle that sense of excitement for the final stretch of their ambitious 2017.

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