Really not sure how I feel about this album. It's growing on me, but it doesn't have the highs and lows I've seen from this band in the past. The whole record feels very muted and toned-down. Maybe I just miss the aggressive edge of the previous records. Am I missing something here?
I pretty much agree. Probably why Two Deliverances, Settle the Scar, and You In This Light are my three favorites.
I took a break from it this weekend, came back to it, I still find it spectacular. love every moment. I actually keep enjoying Piano player more and more. I can't decide if two deliverances to grandmother or Soft Animal to You in this light is a better three song run. both are incredible
Im connecting to it in some ways. I feel Im really close to it all coming together and Im just waiting for that to happen. Also, por favor come vinyl.
I actually felt a connection on my very first listen and it took me forever to get into Home... Granted my first listsen I was pretry buzzed and taking a sunset walk through the suburbs. Maybe that's the secret to unlocking it.
Latepass on my part (I'm way behind in this thread), but this is exactly the sort of analysis I wanted to read about this album. Thank you for writing it.
Drove from Austin to College Station to Houston and back to Austin this weekend, and this was on basically the entire time. I don't know if I love it. It's definitely good, but doesn't touch Home, as of now. But I'm sure seeing them this week will seal the deal for me.
has anyone else noticed the very very faint screamings of "SUUUN" during the bridge, like right when it starts to get quiet??
This is my biggest disappointment in quite some time. So much of it sounds so limp. Never expected to be bored by a follow-up to Home.
Bored? This record is ANYTHING but boring. There are musical risks and plenty of things here really interesting.. Not sure how you can call anything on here boring, other than maybe the interludes. Let's take the ballad "opening mail for my grandmother" forget lyrical contents which is fascinating here. Two times they do a kind of fake build, the first time they add the harmony you are expecting it to get louder and it drops to just Christian's voice. The second time they make you really think it's going to explode and add almost a group chant an octave above and then take it away right before he says "I'm coming for you".. I totally get not liking the record, but I just don't know how you could call it boring. There is a ton going on here.
I like the album, but totally understand how someone could see it's boring; I could even see someone seeing Opening Mail as boring for the reasons you describe (and aside from that song, it's a problem I see): it feels like there's a ton of fake building
I'm actually sort of surprised more people on here aren't calling it boring, haha. That's not what I think of the record, just what I would imagine a decent amount of pre this record hotelier fans (the ones who will not be able to stand the openers on this tour then accidentally elbow someone in the face while moshing, then yell for housebroken later on) would think
Yeah, no, it's certainly thoughtfully made. The vocals backed only by drums in "Goodness, pt. 2," the glitch stuff, the willingness to play around with song structure, and the admirable amount of compositional restraint shown in a lot of these songs are certainly the signs of a band maturing and coming into its own. It's just that the end result is exactly what they were going for: something contemplative and at times soothing. I guess it's just not the album I need right now. I wanted something darker and more rousing.
Ah. I mean, hey, maybe I just need to sit down with the lyrics and really concentrate on them, but I just find it a bit dull. Maybe it's because I started playing guitar since the last one and find some of the stretches on here meandering (which is probably the point).
I enjoyed this response a lot more than your original post. I think there is a lot here to challenge the listener which is why I hear it as the opposite of boring. I just feel like you needed to support you comment more than just coming into a thread and saying yea I'm disappointed and find it boring, with nothing to back up your opinion.