Fans of Attalus, rejoice! The Facedown Records alumnus Seth Davey is returning to rock music with his fourth solo album in four years, Dance in the Dark. As of publishing this review, Davey is presently fundraising on Kickstarter to record this album, which is intended to be a "rock opera," in contrast to the more folk and americana leanings of his previous solo efforts. Davey's latest single, "Dance in the Dark" will become the album's title track -- purportedly meant to be one of the heavier, more rocking anthems from the yet-to-be recorded collection. In that sense, "Dance in the Dark" is less of a full-blown return to Attalus's post-hardcore and more of a middle ground between Attalus and Davey's previous albums; to that end, the instrumentation and musical production on "Dance" captures this middle ground perfectly, highlighting Davey's piano playing alongside the host of other talented musicians on the track (shout-outs in particular to the fantastic work from drummer Henry Sasser and violinist Anna McLeod). Some of the song's most epic moments also come from the utilization of choral-like gang vocals, which help the song grow in intensity as it goes along. The only thing that really hampers this single is the vocal production, which falls below the high quality of everything else on display. Davey's performances are impassioned (verging upon guttural screaming at times), but to my ears, the vocal EQ, de-essing, and reverb could all see great improvements between this single version and the final album version. I would also love for the hearsay about "Dance" being one of the album's heaviest songs to prove untrue -- the potential for Davey to go harder and heavier elsewhere on the album is greatly enticing, especially if he's taking cues from existing emo- and hardcore-tinged rock operas by the likes of The Dear Hunter and Forgive Durden. Either way, though, this single is an exciting foretaste of what's to come, and anyone who likes the song should consider supporting the Kickstarter campaign while you still can.

- Review date: 7/1/26, written by Chase Tremaine of Jesusfreakhideout.com