Cavalier Youth by You Me at Six

Cavalier Youth, the fourth studio album from Weybridge's You Me at Six, arrived on BMG in January 2014, and it's the sound of a band that cleared the decks and aimed straight for the arenas. They'd started writing in early 2012, walked away from Virgin and their management by the end of that year, and flew to Los Angeles to record with Neal Avron at NRG Studio and his home setup, La Casita, in the summer of 2013. This time the whole band chipped in on the lyrics.

The result is polished, fist-pumping pop rock: Josh Franceschi's big, open-hearted choruses, the guitars of Max Helyer and Chris Miller chiming wide, Matt Barnes and Dan Flint driving it all home. "Room to Breathe" is a surging, sing-at-the-sky moment, and "Fresh Start Fever" won Best Single at the Kerrang! Awards. Some critics found it formulaic, but fans sent it straight to the top of the UK albums chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.