When the lead singer of the classic indie band Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service releases a solo album, cool kids everywhere get excited.
With fifteen years of experience on the indie scene, Washington-born Benjamin Gibbard isn’t another quirky type looking for a new creative outlet. ‘Former Lives‘ is about exactly that – the trials and tribulations of Benjamin’s life and a glance back to his old ways.
“These songs span eight years, three relationships, living in two different places, drinking then not drinking”, he stated.
But this isn’t a drab and dreary album about recovering from addiction and broken, forgone, love stories. Although the lyrics do circle dark places at times, overall it’s a very cheerful and upbeat record. Both the opening and closing tracks are semi-acapella, showing off Benjamin’s vocals.
Shepherd’s ‘Bush Lullaby’ is a short and sweet love song, visiting themes of love and being in an unknown city, whilst ‘I’m Building A Fire’ is a simple melody that has the potential to jerk tears in an intimate venue.
The album is packed full of sunny indie tracks, which breeze along to an acoustic guitar including ‘Dream Song’, ‘Something’s Rattling’ and ‘Lady Adelaide’. ‘Something’s Rattling’ has a little more to it, with the additional trumpets and exotic vibe provided by Mariachis band Trio Ellas. Talking about arguably the most intriguing track on the album, Benjamin said, “What better way to present a song about getting lost than having me getting lost in an unrecognizable band?”
‘A Hard One To Know’ is a poppy, guitar-led, track with a pretty melody and catchy hook while ‘Lady Adelaide’ carries that carefree sound. It’s beautiful, simple and packed full of imagery, which will have you pondering for hours, leaving you feeling that nothing lasts forever. Oh, ‘Woe’ is another track with so much positive energy, with a lot of Britishness to the sound; it’s a great indie-pop track and has the potential to be a massive hit with a touch of sadness to it.
Drumming up inspiration from the great American sound of the 50s and 60s on tracks such as ‘Teardrop Windows’, ‘Bigger Than Love’ and ‘Lily’, Benjamin retains some of that cheeky, feel-good, charm that Buddy Holly and Elvis had. He re-visits rock ‘n’ roll and gives it a modern twist that you can’t help but enjoy. ‘Bigger Than Love’ has tubular synths in the back and with the inclusion of Aimee Mann, it becomes a perfect mixture of the old and the new with a touch of The Killers to it.
Two tracks that stand out for me are ‘Duncan’, ‘Where Have You Gone?’ and ‘Broken Yolk In Western Sky’. The former has a spacey, eerie sound to it and sounds like a dramatic show tune that you can imagine the curtain falling to. Full of melancholy, it’s piano heavy with a guitar instrumental and it’s really quite haunting.
Although I’ve listened to the whole album, it’s the one that seems to resonate with me. ‘Broken Yolk In Western Sky’ has a relaxed country vibe and as the title might suggest, it conjures up images of a beautiful sunset in American sky. It’s very laid-back with so much colour and vibrancy and it’s not often you come across a song that can do that as well as this one does.
All in all, it’s not a typical indie album in that it touches on a wide range of genres and tackles real deep issues. Contrasting the music with the lyrics is something that Benjamin is great at and unless you listen carefully to the words, you won’t notice the reflection on the fact that all situations have both light and dark in them.
Of course, “Indie Cindys” will love it, as they seem to love anything that is both old and new, but it is a record that anyone will enjoy and certainly one for the deep thinkers.