Fall Out Boy’s drastic change from punk rock to mainstream, created a fan base that monopolized the rock industry at one point. All that changed, when at what some would consider the peak of their success in 2009, the band abruptly announced its hiatus. After months of waiting and n

o sign of any new material, fans suspected that the album Folie à Deux would be the conclusion of Fall Out Boy. It has been almost two years since that November 2009 announcement and the band continues to be on its indefinite break. Guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley joined together with members from the bands Every Time I Die and Anthrax to create The Damned Things, a hardcore metal band. Pete Wentz who was the bassist of Fall Out Boy went on to create a new band called Black Cards. Patrick Stump however, is the only member of the

band to go solo and leave the rock genre behind and has released his first solo full-length album on October 18 titled Soul Punk.His EP Truant Wave was released in February of this year and his music evidently went into a totally distinct direction than alternative rock. The EP was full with synthesized beats and carried a smooth Rhythm and Blues edge. In the new album Stump has remained loyal to the sound found in Truant Wave and has completely broken away from Fall Out Boy’s music style. The album opens with an explosion, with the song “Explode” starting off with the sound of glass shattering immediately followed by Stump’s voice charging at the listener along with the background beat. Soul Punk also captures more of Patrick Stump’s R&B influences with tracks like “Dance Miserable” and “The I in Lie.” The musician even adds a bit of hip-hop into the mix by featuring Lupe Fiasco in the “This City” remix. The choppy club beats are replaced with more smooth,

subtle melodies that are soothing to the ear. The fourth track on the album, “Spotlight (New Regrets)” isn’t necessarily new, however.  It was first introduced on Patrick Stump’s website and a poll was posted asking fans to listen to both versions of the song (“New Regrets” and “Oh Nostalgia”) and vote on which one should end up on the EP Truant Wave. The more indie/alternative rock sounding “Oh Nostalgia” won but “New Regrets” has found its way onto this album. It is more befitting to the overall theme of Soul Punk, much more than “Nostalgia” would have been. Stump’s EP and LP unleash the listener into a whole new side of him, including a slimmer and more r efined looking Stump. The singer heavily influences the album as he wrote, produced and played in almost every song in Soul Punk. The album certainly seems to be the right move for Stump as it has all the right elements without being too overdone and it is a pleasing, harmonious mash up of different styles of music and beats.