July Music Review

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The xx
I See You (2017)


 I get chills
Heart's rate multiplies
I'm on a different kind of high
A rush of blood is not enough
I need my feelings set on fire

I had a review of this album mostly composed in my head six weeks ago. It was going to be about how I wasn't that impressed, how the brilliance of The xx may have faded in inverse proportion to their age and maturity. I was going to say that the album's only gem "Replica" was a bit ironic, given that the album was failing after all to replicate the success of Coexist and xx.

And then I listened one more time. And then another and one after that, and concluded this is an outstanding piece of work. It's at once more profound and more reserved than the earlier work. I've heard people say I See You is a transition from indie electronic to a more mainstream indie pop, but I don't buy it. Pop music doesn't revolve around lyrics this subtle and haunting. Check out the very awkward performance of "I Dare You" and see for yourself -- these are not pop stars (are indie downtempo triphop stars a thing yet?). Five stars.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The Nashville Sound (2017)

You were born on a hot late summer day
We turned you loose and tried to stay out of your way
Don't quite recognize the world you call home
Just find what makes you happy girl and do it 'til you're gone

I don't know if this album will hold up long term, but it's music we need now. And it's surely not insightful to notice that Isbell has been wildly effected by current politics, or Zeitgeist, or whatever. What is insightful is Isbell's easy way of speaking to the dissolution of his own (mis)conceptions, to the anxiety of today, and to hope for the future. Though much of this work is slower and more personal than most of the music that draws me in, it's working for me. Check out "Hope the High Road" as the album's power tune. Then listen to "Something to Love", the album's closer, and let the depth sink in. Four stars.

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