About a minute into the album’s
first song, “Stop Talking,” its title track, I got excited. It suddenly has
this energy that makes me feel that this album could go anywhere, and I like
that, the idea that this music can surprise me. And it does. Nothing about this
music feels standard. Check out these lyrics: “Stop talking about you, it’s too late to be fixed/I’ve already lost you
in my self-indulgent fits/Stop thinking about you so I am not possessed/The
thought of going upstairs and taking off your dress/Stop talking about love, I
don’t think it’s real.” This first track grabbed me, and I was happily in
the album’s grasp the rest of the way through.
“Hi Lo” then begins quietly on
acoustic guitar, a somewhat mellower tune with a kind of beauty, particularly
in the vocal performance. “All I do is
drag you down/So turn away, don’t turn around/And so long, I can’t go where you
go/Make this easy, I don’t have the strength to run/So tell me that it’s done
and I can go.” Sure, the song might be mellower, but there is nothing mellow
about the emotions of these characters. The same might be said of the following
track, “Pulling Teeth.” While the music might be relaxed, even pretty, there is
an intense feel to these characters. And I love these lines: “You and me, we’re not good people/You and
me, we don’t have patience for the world/And our friends, and all their
problems/’Cause it’s just like pulling teeth.” Yes, I love the humor of
this song. And these lines surprised me to the point that I burst out laughing:
“Got a heart, got a soul/I’ve got a condo.”
This song is one of my favorites. Nadeem Majdalany did the string arrangements
for this track.
“Man Down” has a lighter vibe
at the start, with some pleasant work on piano. This song has a ‘70s feel, reminding
me at various moments of both Billy Joel and Chicago (but also with some
Beatles touches on guitar). This one and “Sigh” also contain hints of Electric
Light Orchestra.
“Father To The Man” tells the
story of an interesting and changing father-son relationship. “Once he was terrifying/I wouldn’t dare to
say a word/To stand up to my old man/Now he wouldn’t dare to stand/Without
someone’s helping hand/He says, ‘Go on, put me away.’” I appreciate that
there’s a bit of humor to this sad story (“Go
on, put me away/Go on, don’t hesitate”), something we’ll all be facing
sooner or later, I suppose. Are any of us prepared? This song is presented on acoustic
guitar, with some beautiful touches on cello, and has some powerful changes.
One of my favorite tracks is “One
Of Them,” an absolutely delightful and totally catchy song. “You’re just like one of them/When I thought
you were different/You’re just like one of them/When I thought that I knew
you/You’re just like one of them/When I thought you were special.” Two
people – Emeen Zarookian and Alex Jules – play tambourine on this track. So
there. “One Of Them” was written by Chris Price and Rachel Goodrich. It’s
followed by “Just In Time,” another of the disc’s highlights. The line “We showed up just in time for the end of the
world” made me burst out laughing the first time I heard it, then almost
had me in tears right afterward as I realized this could very well be the end.
Certainly we are in dark times, but this song will make the disaster more
palatable. Ease us into annihilation. “What
a beautiful day today is/What a shame it is to say goodbye.” The album then
concludes with “Anhedonia,” which has sweet-sounding vocals, but what he says is “I want to turn you
off/I want to push you away/I don’t want to make you stay.” Yes, this is an
album to pay attention to.
CD Track List
- Stop Talking
- Hi Lo
- Pulling Teeth
- Man Down
- Father To The Man
- Once Was True
- You And Me (And Everyone Else)
- Algebra In The Sky
- Sigh
- Darkness
- Contrition
- One Of Them
- Just In Time
- Anhedonia
Stop Talking is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2017 on
Omnivore Recordings.
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