Comments
I like this cd. I don't think it's quite as good as past stuff, but still one of the better pop releases in a long time.
Sixpence None The Richer
Divine Discontent
In 1999 Sixpence None The Richer caught lightening in a bottle when their self-titled album, (their third LP in four years,) managed the nearly inconceivable combination of artistic brilliance and major market saturation for a "new" artist. The idea that pop music could be beautiful was proven again. "Kiss Me" provided the perfect entry-point to a collection of songs that challenged musical convention and dared to ask the hardest questions. By the time the ubiquitous single peaked the album was over two years old and talk was already underway about the dreaded follow-up. It has been said that the only thing harder than scoring a number-one hit is scoring a second number-one hit. However, those who knew them best were certain the band would follow up their success with a stunner of an album that would obliterate the idea that they were another one-hit wonder. The enchanting chemistry of principal writer and guitarist Matt Slocum and vocalist Leigh Nash was more than capable of replicating that lightening whenever called upon, of that much they were certain.
Sneak peeks at new songs throughout the band's seemingly never-ending touring set the faithful to squirming with anticipation. At times the new material sounded more aggressive, darker, and more akin to their work on "This Beautiful Mess" than anything from the "Kiss Me" universe. More recent shows, however, have introduced audiences to a sweeter, gentler, more adult-pop sound ala Squeeze or Natalie Merchant. Considering the two-year delay between the original completion of the album and it's eventual release, and the fact that every time a new release date was set the band went back into the studio to update the project, the world may never know what the band's original follow-up would have sounded like. But the version the world will hear is a picture of intelligent pop music on a grand scale.
Divine Discontent is a perfectly balanced demonstration of tension, grace, beauty, anger and hope, in instrumental perspective, melody and lyric. From aching romance to heartfelt despair the songs play out like scenes in a beautiful foreign film. There is an exotic quality amidst the complex neo-classical arrangements, progressive chord and rhythm structures and the sublime lyrical poetry - most from the mind and hands of Slocum - that is set ablaze by the flawless and emotive vocal interpretation of Nash. Whether it be the startling rage of the emotional high point, "Paralyzed," or the intimate wisdom of the album's lyrical centerpiece "Tension Is A Passing Note," each song strikes the perfect balance between simple and sublime. Not unlike the deceptively sweet Lennon and McCartney classic "Michelle," Slocum and Nash combine seamlessly and arrive at a place of pop perfection to which few dare even aspire.
The collection of thirteen tracks manages an impressive balance of stand-alone singles and album congruity. The lead track, debut single, and most obvious "Kiss Me" follow-up, "Breathe Your Name" sounds ready-to-use as a soundtrack song or VH1 video. In fact, the first four songs, all the newest to be recorded for the album, are a relentless set of irascible pop gems. The thematic thread traces visions and versions of love, tension and the frustration of being a work-in-progress. Fortunately the album takes a deeper and more textured tone with "Still Burning," a sparse and melancholy piece that reiterates Slocum's place as one of the greatest lyricists working today, and takes the whole record in a different direction. One of the earliest songs written for the album, and possibly the best worship song released in years, "Melody Of You," has survived intact and is followed by the lone rocker, "Paralyzed," which echoes and amplifies the pain and desperation felt by a journalist who's best friend was killed covering the war in Kosovo. The tragic story provides the perfect example of bad things happening to good people, and sets up the counterbalance to the album's bittersweet romantic ditties. The record closes strong, with the driving "Eyes Wide Open," (a lovely McCartney-influenced tune written by Nash,) the beautiful "Dizzy" (which brilliantly casts the tension of the Christian experience of perpetual brokenness and rebuilding in the form of a lump of clay spinning on a potter's wheel and King David dancing before the Arc of the Covenant,) and the stunning "Tension Is A Passing Note." The disc ends with another newer song "A Million Parachutes," and a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over," a song that might be considered a throw-away shot at following up their cover of The La's "There She Goes" if it wasn't so perfect lyrically and melodically for this album.
Divine Discontent, though certainly born in a furnace of frustration, arrives as one of the strongest examples of faith, art and accessibility that this critic has ever heard. The real feat is this band's ability to craft such eloquent pop music that deals so artfully with the most difficult issues facing mankind. It certainly ranks as one of the most beautiful pop albums ever to come from the faith-art community. [Reprise/ John J. Thompson]
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