Since starting Pedro the Lion in the mid '90s, David Bazan has slowly built a reputation as an introspective singer-songwriter. His latest, Care, is a step up in quality from his most recent work and a new direction for the now-middle-aged troubadour.
Bazan more fully embraced synths on last year's Blanco, and has only refined his approach for Care. An album of almost only synths and voice might be a risk, but it pays off thanks to the crisp production from Richard Swift. Juxtaposed with chilly synths, it's easy to all the warmth of a fingerpicked acoustic guitar contained in Bazan's voice alone. Fans of soft-spoken, indie/emo singer-songwriters haven't heard textures like this since the Postal Service's Give Up, though thematically, Care is closer to Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool or Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear.
Bazan's candid songwriting here examines his domestic life as a husband and father. One technique he uses for this is a 'turn' or 'volta' towards the end of each song, a single line that either changes the meaning or reveals it. In "Care," it's "stop romanticizing cheating"; in "Sparkling Water," he confesses "I don't want to be alone"; and as "Inner Lives" paints a scene of a morning coffee and joke between spouses, it ends with the line, "in an instant I remembered who we are." Album closer "The Ballad of Pedro y Blanco" closes with the lyric "put down your guitar, go enjoy it right now," a poignant idea concerning struggle between touring and domestic life.
The sonic risks and personal openness make Care the best thing Bazan has done in years.
(Undertow)Bazan more fully embraced synths on last year's Blanco, and has only refined his approach for Care. An album of almost only synths and voice might be a risk, but it pays off thanks to the crisp production from Richard Swift. Juxtaposed with chilly synths, it's easy to all the warmth of a fingerpicked acoustic guitar contained in Bazan's voice alone. Fans of soft-spoken, indie/emo singer-songwriters haven't heard textures like this since the Postal Service's Give Up, though thematically, Care is closer to Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool or Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear.
Bazan's candid songwriting here examines his domestic life as a husband and father. One technique he uses for this is a 'turn' or 'volta' towards the end of each song, a single line that either changes the meaning or reveals it. In "Care," it's "stop romanticizing cheating"; in "Sparkling Water," he confesses "I don't want to be alone"; and as "Inner Lives" paints a scene of a morning coffee and joke between spouses, it ends with the line, "in an instant I remembered who we are." Album closer "The Ballad of Pedro y Blanco" closes with the lyric "put down your guitar, go enjoy it right now," a poignant idea concerning struggle between touring and domestic life.
The sonic risks and personal openness make Care the best thing Bazan has done in years.
