mewithoutYou's latest
album, Ten Stories is a significant release, but not just on a
musical level. The band has joined the ranks of many great artists
this day and age who have gone independent and self released their
music. While they left their long relationship with Tooth & Nail
records on good terms (unlike Radiohead and EMI), they felt it was
time to move on and try something different. And why not? Their fan
following was strong enough that the record label was no longer the
source of security that it was. So, first I want to acknowledge to
accomplishment of going independent and taking on the additional task
of self promotion. It's no doubt a lot of work, but probably very
rewarding.
One of the things I
mentioned about their previous album It's All Crazy! It's All
False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, was that taking that
dramatic stylistic leap meant that they could go anywhere with their
music. I imagine that it was very freeing. In Ten Stories, we
reap the benefit from that decision. Though, unlike the last album,
the scope of the album is not as easy to pinpoint. As such, my first
impression of the album was admittedly a bit underwhelming. It wasn't
just me though. I spoke with Jacke Karashae, a musician and fellow
music reviewer, and after listening to it once he wasn't that
impressed either. But I had enough faith in the band to give it
another listen and found the second time was far more rewarding (as
did Jacke Karashae). And by the third time, I came to really love it.
This is something I find quite regularly with mewithoutYou's music;
it rewards time and time again for the faithful listener. I am now a
very big fan of Ten Stories. It is easily their most diverse
and adventurous album that they've produced yet.
They definitely drifted
back away from their folk sound, which they fully indulged with It's
All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright
and at times have returned to their hardcore rock roots, though as
refined as it was in Brother, Sister.
Though, it only appears on occasion in this album, starting with the
opening track, “February, 1878” which seems like a followup to
“January, 1979” off of Catch For Us The Foxes.
I suppose the initial worry with this opening track is wondering if
they would be playing it safe and defaulting back to their old style.
I would say that worry leaves about half way through the song.
Instead of playing folk songs, they explore various avenues of rock,
which is actually a pretty diverse pallet to paint with. The songs
drift flawlessly into one another, telling the story of a circus
train which crashes as an elephant tries to free the other animals.
They are no strangers to stories about animals as there have been
consistent parables and metaphors with animals in the last two albums
and even a little bit in their early work, but this is the first
times that it has been a really clear and consistent story through
the album. The story of Brother, Sister
was very loose and more of an emotional arc than a real concept
album.
The
album never really drags. The structure is quite well thought out as
every time the energy begins to wind down, it picks up again and goes
through somewhat of a journey again. The fast paced songs are well
spaced out and we travel through all sorts of moods and tempos. Some
of the albums finest moments are the songs with the higher energy
though. I am a big fan of “Cardiff Giant,” which has a light
groove to it but takes some dramatic turns. I also thoroughly enjoy
their fast and emotionally intense “Fox's Dream of the Log Flume.”
“Elephant In The Dock” tells the story of the elephant being put
on trial. It's actually quite dramatic and amusingly quotable. It
seems a bit goofy at first glance, but it seems like the song is
taking the subject matter very seriously. “The elephant refused to
swear the oath, said 'I don't know anything about truth, but I know
falsehood when I see it and it looks like this whole world you
made.'”
Ten Stories
finishes with the fantastic song, “All Circles” which doesn't
journey far from its main hook, but it's so catchy and the simple
lyrical loop is so addictive and clever that it leaves a great final
impression on the album. I mean seriously, this is great: “All
circles presuppose they'll end where they begin, but only in their
leaving can they ever come back 'round.” It sounds terrific.
Ten Stories
is an album that flows very naturally and feels remarkably sure
considering how unfamiliar much of the territory is. With their last
album, it was new and adventurous, but didn't always feel like the
natural path for the band. I thought that they played folk rock
well, but I think that the shortcomings of It's All
Crazy... become more apparent
because of how well this album succeeds. They play relatively more
tame music than their old work, but it feels really natural and eased
into. It seems that the band has found themselves in a comfortable
place, not only in how accessible their music now is, but also it
seems that they've found a way of blending their sounds into
something that works for them. I've often enjoyed Aaron Weiss' vocal
style, even though he doesn't come across as a naturally gifted
singer. But I really feel like they make music that works for how he
sings. And they haven't abandoned his shouting poetry style, but
have found ways to fit it into their new accessible style. Often
it's used as a way to elevate the emotion and drama near the end of a
song. It actually works really well.
Brother, Sister
is still the album that I hold very dear to me and I think the truth
is that there isn't as much to connect to emotionally in Ten
Stories, but I have to admit
that from a songwriting standpoint, it holds up just as well. This is
a really great album and I'm glad that they took this direction. This
will probably go down as one of their best releases, but then again,
I have no idea what they will do next. But I am looking forward to
it. That much can be said for certain.
I
also want to reflect a little bit on my overall mewithoutYou project
that I've taken on this month. I think it was a good journey to look
at their music in depth. I wouldn't do that with every artist, but
the good part about their music is that it has a lot of substance and
seems worthy to delve into. Hearing how they have evolved over the
last decade is rewarding in that it's given me the opportunity to
hear a band that has been willing to take risks, but still keep their
music and lyrics uncompromisingly honest. I've come to appreciate
them a whole lot more. They have become one of my favourite bands
through this. So, if you haven't checked them out, I couldn't
recommend it more. Thanks for reading.
5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment