Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Zombies on Broadway (February 10, 2017) Album • Page 16

Excited to hear the new song. Can we expect a new album this year or one-off single?

 

this is pretty much me, tho zombies and the self-titled flit in and out of the "most consistently great since transit" title. i actually listened yesterday and "love & great buildings" still made me tear up.

(wish i could say the same about a new release from another childhood favorite who's gone in a more purely pop direction mat please tell me the night is darkest before the dawn)

 

I take a few points off self-titled for "See Her on the Weekend," which I really don't like, and "Driving Through a Dream," which is just okay. I'm also not really that huge on "Cecilia," but I appreciate what it means to him personally and what it did to his career. I've really come to love all the songs on Zombies.

And holy hell, I hate the new Mat Kearney record.

 

imo, Annie use your telescope is just a better cecilia

 

I find self-titled miles above Zombies honestly, there's only one or two songs on the entirety of Zombies that I've come to love, they just don't feel as.... I dunno, personal? The album as a whole feels more forced and kinda all over the place. I still dig it, but self-titled is full of absolute jams and really showcased the best of Andrew

 

Haha, for some reason See her on the Weekend and Driving through a Dream were two of my most played from that record I didn't even expect it.

 

Interesting. I think the songs are largely still pretty transparently personal, especially:

"Brooklyn, You're Killing Me"
"So Close"
"Fire Escape"
"Dead Man's Dollar"
"Love and Great Buildings"
"Birthday Song"

 

maybe personal isn't the right word, as his lyrics are always great on that end, maybe it's the musical arrangements that just feel a bit off to me. Hard to put into words honestly

 

Zombies gave me too much of a generic Alt Nation vibe. I love Andrew, but a lot of his stuff is starting to sound the same.

 

Love Andrew and have enjoyed all his records, but I think they’ve gotten worse with each release since EIT.

 

I wasn't fond of his s/t, with the exception of Rainy Girl, but I enjoyed Zombies. Hearing songs from Zombies live and acoustic made me enjoy the album more. And even though I'm so sick of hearing Cecilia, I appreciated the rather...interesting backstory he told the Charlottesville crowd about it last week. If he'd move away from dance-pop, and go back to the sound he was going for on TGP, I'd be happy.

But as long as his songs still have some sort of personal tale to tell, I'll always be happy with what he releases. I'm stoked for the studio version of Ohio!

 

Has anyone been to the current tour? The setlist looks whack as hell. The other guys are playing their own songs randomally throughout the set? Is that right?

 

It’s an entirely different type of show. Everything is stripped down and almost more like a theatrical show tied together with a running theme of all the friends and collaborations. There are no openers, that is the setlist of the entire show. It’s definitely his most ambitious tour ever and one of the best I’ve ever seen. The deep cuts are incredible and even the standard songs are killer with the new acoustic arrangements. You should look into it more before writing it off.

 

I wish he kept Doris Day and Miss America on this tour. He played them at the Coach House shows in December, and I was hopeful they would have made the cut.

Another deep cut I wish would make a return? She Paints Me Blue.

 

I really would love to hear Doris Day, especially with the silly dog jokes in this set. She Paints Me Blue is one of my favorites but I've been lucky enough to hear it tons of random times over the years. This show was the first time I've heard As You Sleep and it was one of my all-time favorite Andrew live moments.

 

I'm sure I heard it during the SoCo days- I just would love to hear it again, haha

 

How do you connect those two songs?

 

The word "telescope".

 

yeah, the use of space references in conjunction with a females name

 

I don't think "dance-pop" is the right genre to describe him haha, and I love his latest records up there with nearly anything in his discography.. but I do think your last point is a really good one.

I really appreciate the fact that his lyrics haven't lost any depth or personalization despite him doing more co-writes and working in a more pop direction. I feel like a lot of artists lose descriptiveness in return for more generalized pop lyrics and he hasn't done that ever.

 

Ah, I mean there's a lot of space references throughout his entire career haha. Those two songs could not be further alike in my book just considering "Cecilia" is explicitly about his daughter and musically they are so different

 

Definitely now writing it off. I’d 100% go to it if I could, but I live in Australia. Just trying to understand the concept!

But it works? I feel when the other guys do their songs that it would lose momentum?

 

New song is decent, fairly chill. Listening now half asleep in bed.

 

It’s just a different vibe when he isn’t on stage, but the other guys are such longtime collaborators and the “theatrical” aspect is so well thought out that it still makes perfect sense for the show. Normally I don’t like revue shows where people literally just leave and then come back randomly with no flow, but this was like an entire thought held throughout the night so it worked. Plus unlike some shows where you have a performer you don’t like or know for 30 minutes, these were just like little snippets to show off what the guys can really do. I happen to love what Zac and Bobby do anyway so I was into whatever they did, but I also liked Allen’s stuff way more in this format.

 

That’s cool. Thanks for explaining it for me! Glad you enjoyed it :)