The Austin, TX based band just released their latest LP Animal Joy, and I am oh so glad to report that it's thing of beauty!
What is it that nails it for me?
Well, I'm only occasionally drawn in by the lyrics.. as a non-native speaker the content of the vocals often just passes me by either because: the accents are too thick, the content too culturally loaded, because I can't relate, or because I'm not really intrigued by or in any way favorably disposed toward the vocalist.(some might envy me, as this means I can occasionally enjoy a band like Limp Bizkit). whatever it may be, the conclusion is the same.. I take vocals mostly as instruments, rather than messages. And then out of the blue, someone like Jonathan Meiburg establishes himself as someone worth taking notice of.. someone worth reading into...
and the rest is, as they say, soup!
No idea how it sparked but I've learned he's got a Ba in English, did a minor in religion, won a fellowship grant and visited: OZ, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, an Inuit colony and had his life changed by those experiences. These two videos help a bit to bring it home:
Now, I've been thinking about what should come first.. me giving you the taste of the music, or giving the context first.. Sure, fact is I was drawn to them by the melodies, by his voice and the somehow genuine feel of it all. But as you know, emotions rarely travel alone and the more there are the more they will overwhelm you! So, I imagine you might getproperly into it if you, like me, connect to the guy's journey and sincerity, his eloquence and his comely, calm presence.. and through it all the manner in which he deals with the richness of experience life throws at him.
Being somewhat of a seasoned cynic and hermit myself I find this full on appreciation of nature (birds in particular), and his adventurous spirit somehow tangible and appealing, and perhaps most importantly, stirring! The fact that he studied religion was a plus because it made me curious about his orientation... If you look at the videos it seems somewhat evident, perhaps casual.. hard to tell.
Anyway.. here are some personal favorites...(I just picked the first four songs on my playlist that I remember hitting home at once) try to "get" the lyrics if you like.. try to connect the dots.. the exercise makes the value, in my opinion, settle that much deeper..but to be fair.. it is often abstract, cryptic.. takes quite some effort..and you might end up just being puzzled..and given the fair of amount of deviations between the transcripts, you'd be one more to feel frustrated.. but hey whatever, it's about the journey...
p.s.
Whatever happened to the swan sounds, why so few? Well the unsettling truth is that I've dropped the ball a bit on this one, and don't necessarily intend to change that..as sparse as the updates are, they are heartfelt, and that to me takes priority over quantity. You can, however, subscribe to my posts and skip that "check the blog" business and receive a notification (and a full copy) of all my latest post (See top right corner of the blog). I won't be able to see who subscribes by the way, so don't let your paranoia take over and piss and moan about abuse of data.
