Review: Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
Believe me, all is brilliant?
It must have been nerve-wrecking being Manchester Orchestra over the last month or so, waiting for Simple Math to be released and the reactions to come in from both fans and critics. Even more so because they haven’t been exactly downplaying it’s release. Giving fans a free download of the title track ahead of it’s release, a track which accurate showcases exactly what this album is about; taking their sound and making it huge.
At any rate, they need not worry. Simple Math is a terrific achievement as an album, flowing perfectly from start to finish, whilst containing many track that work well as stand alone tracks. Not every track is quite as ‘epic’ as the title track, with opener ‘Deer’ being as close as the album gets to the acoustic tracks of the previous albums, and ‘April Fool’ being as close as they get to their old “rock and that roll” sound. Many of the other tracks are rather downbeat as well, but they are matched brilliantly by the likes of ‘Mighty’, ‘Pensacola’ and the stunning ‘Virgin’.
Andy Hull is also on top form lyrically, as you would expect. The album outlines the near breakdown of his marriage, and he does this on such a raw, personal and blunt level that at times it’s a little off-putting. “Goddamn I’m tired of lying, I wish I loved you like I used to” he screams on ‘Pale Black Eye’. Throwing himself this open to the public on such a scale can’t have been an easy feat.
Despite all this, all the brilliant musicianship and the wonderful addition that is the orchestra (and the children’s choir on ‘Virgin’), and the fact that this is, without a shadow of a doubt, a fantastic album, it just doesn’t feel an album you could fall into in the same way you could their previous works. It’s too deep into itself at times, primarily due to the lyrical content, and whilst the variation within the album compared to the other two is rather astonishing, it never quite hits the heights of the last minute of the title track. Nevertheless, Simple Math showcases a band who have thrown everything into a record, carefully crafted every second, and it is has paid of in a big way.
9.4/10.
Notes
-
wewerepromisedsomuch reblogged this from killer-parties and added:
Excellent Review, Excellent Band.
-
killer-parties posted this
