First review of the new year! I thought it would only be appropriate to start this year on a Weyes Blood album just as I did last year. So FRONT ROW SEAT TO EARTH- How good is it?
So the record opens on DIARY which opens with this shiny piano arpeggio and Natalie's vocals, and man that's it for a while- during my initial listens it nearly made me put the album down and move on- but as other elements of the track float in it definitely picks up. Mering's backing vocals give this track a big boost, but the obviously sequenced drums kind of bring it down a little. That being said the vocal performance is excellent, as well as the songwriting. It's a decent opener, but the album picks up in second track
USED TO BE, which is this piano organ duet over a pained break up number. The sparse-ness that hurt the start of DIARY boosts the start of this track, and the drums improve it when they come in too. The pop-ier melodies and structure of the track give it a great emotional weight, especially as it swells to the second chorus and then triumphantly gallops to the finale with horns and "na-na, na-na" backing vocals, as Natalie confidently sheds the longing of the track's titular "You used to be the one" into something almost vindictive. It's a great track!
BE FREE is alot lighter in it's approach- the acoustic guitar shimmers alongside this woodwind-y lead which creates a psychedelic atmosphere with the track's lightly reverbed vocals and vocal harmonies. The track is so easy to get lost in and doesn't drag despite the 6:22 runtime. There's a great moment towards the back half of the track where the guitar and vocals are bought right down with no effects, it feels like Natalie is briefly right in your ear before she's whisked away into floating obscurity. Another track I had to get used to, but another good one nonetheless.
DO YOU NEED MY LOVE is a pretty conventional pop ballad for the majority of it's runtime- it's never boring, the lyrics switch between steadfast conviction and longing desire, but then there's this great bit a little over half way thru way the instrumental shifts to this totally drone-y dark ambient atmosphere under the vocals and drums, before being whisked back to the tracks previous conventional instrumentation to finish out. It demonstrates this appreciation for classic song crafting but also a fearlessness to just switch to something else entirely in what could otherwise be utterly conventional.
GENERATION WHY is a highlight on the record- the song is ethereal with these organ swells, choral vocal parts and melodic accents that lift up Natalie's lyrical motifs. The track is largely about accepting the utter chaos of modern life: "carry me through the waves of change". Not much to say, just great.
CAN'T GO HOME is one of the less memorable cuts- the only instrument is vocals, it's Mering singing over wordless vocal harmonies, so it's kind of no thrills there. The lyrics could be interpreted as the narrator feeling trapped in a relationship, so there's that to dig into but it's no where near a standout.
SEVEN WORDS is another rock solid, organ led pop tune lamenting the apparent end of a relationship and subsequently moving on- "now I face tomorrow, now I face tomorrow" perhaps being Natalie trying to convince herself to move on, like a mantra, almost. Good tune!
AWAY ABOVE starts with a vocal duet between Natalie and herself before shifting to another folk-sy acoustic guitar ballad. It's largely cute and inoffensive and it's got some fun lyrical excerpts but again, not a standout. Not every track can be! It's a cosy piece with alot of charm, I haven't got too much bad to say about it.
Closer FRONT ROW SEAT is this 2 minute sound collage of ghoulish piano, screams, far off conversations and odd samples before ending on a horn motif that may or may not be from earlier in the record. It's a cute closing track that rounds off the album well.
So overall, I'm not as big of a fan of FRSTE as I am Titanic Rising- it's got tunes, but it's noticably more bedroom pop tendencies do work against it occasionally, it feels like a record that would've benefited from studio development, as Titanic did. Still worth checking out for fans of that record, and anyone else into the concept of a modern day 70's singer-songwriter record with great penmanship. Check it out!
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