Copeland recently released its third album In Motion, which introduces dance rock elements into its otherwise mellow emo music.

Credit: Seth Roy

Copeland’s latest album, In Motion, was released just last month and is already one of the better albums I’ve heard this year.

If you’ve heard any of Copeland’s previous efforts, you probably won’t get any huge surprises with their latest, but it still shows growth.

If you haven’t heard any Copeland, think of Death Cab for Cutie but a little poppier. If you haven’t heard of Death Cab, well … just think of indie-pop rock. Yes, I know that doesn’t really make sense, but that’s what Copeland sounds like.

The album starts off with the up-tempo “No One Really Wins,” the most straight-forward rocker on the album. The song features a great beat, good melody and poignant lyrics. That trio shows its face again and again through the whole album.

Other stand out songs are the catchy, sing-a-long “Choose the One Who Loves You More,” the anthem about a girl named Amanda called “Pin Your Wings” and the angsty “Love is a Fast Song.”

“Love is a Fast Song” declares, in what is my favorite lyric on the whole album, that “You should not be angry/If all she wants is your money/Oh, you should not be angry/’Cause all you want is her body.”

The biggest risk that Copeland takes on the album is on “Kite,” which features an accordion during the chorus and the singer, Aaron Marsh, in falsetto. As the album’s lone ballad, “Kite” serves as a nice change of pace from the rest of the pop/rock shuffle.

I challenge you to listen to all 10 songs without singing along even once; or at least without losing yourself in the music.

Contact Pop Arts reporter Seth Roy at [email protected].