Paige Murphy, Entertainment Editor

Twelve years after alternative rock band Switchfoot released their first album The Legend of Chin, the band is still going strong. Hello Hurricane, the band’s seventh album, was released on Nov. 11, and proves that Switchfoot is not short on great music.

Switchfoot started out in 1996 as brothers Jon and Tim Foreman and drummer Chat Butler and was originally called Chin Up. Their first three albums were released on Charlie Peacock’s indie label Re:think Records. Many of us first heard of Switchfoot with the release of their very popular single “Meant to Live.”

Since The Beautiful Letdown, which has “Meant to Live” as its first track, Switchfoot has not been as mainstream. But hardcore Switchfoot fans know that their music is as great as ever.

On the first listen, the opening song on Hello Hurricane, “Needle and Haystack Life,” is a slightly disappointing first track, especially compared to Switchfoot’s other first tracks like “Meant to Live” and “Oh, Gravity!” However, it does get better after multiple listens. The second track/first single, “Mess of Me,” gives a first taste of the more rock-sounding songs of the album.

“There ain’t no drug/ The sickness is myself/ I’ve made a mess of me/ I wanna get back the rest of me/ I wanna spend the rest of my life alive,” Jon Foreman sings in “Mess of Me.”

After “Mess of Me,” the album transitions to the slower “Your Love is a Song,” and back to rock with “The Sound.” The rest of the album more or less follows the same pattern. The transitions between the mellow songs and the fast-paced songs are very effective; you never get bored by listening to the same type of song over and over again.

If you aren’t ready to get the whole album, a few songs to check out are “Mess of Me,” “The Sound,” “Free” and “Hello Hurricane.” The whole album is great, but these stand out.

Switchfoot’s sound changed a little with each of their past six albums, and Hello Hurricane is no exception. Fans shouldn’t worry, though. The songs of the new album are still good ol’ Switchfoot, like always.

Neither long-term nor new Switchfoot fans will be disappointed with Hello Hurricane. The band has yet again released a meaningful, thought-provoking album.

“Let it rise above,” Foreman sings in “The Sound.” “There is no song louder than love.”