LSI PLAYERMusic / J / Jimmy Eat World / News / Jimmy Eat World - Invented Review
- Jimmy Eat World
- Genre
- Pop, Alternative, Rock
- LetsSingIt Music Player
- play all songs
- Fans
- 209, 0 of your friends
add to favorites
- Moderator
- IsThisMyFate
- More Jimmy Eat World news
06/10/2010 Jimmy Eat World - Invented Review 17/06/2007 New album 
More artist news
Jimmy Eat World - News
| Jimmy Eat World - Invented Review |
| 06-10-2010 17:20 | 0 comment(s) |
 Listening to Jimmy Eat World can be a bit like asking someone to punch you in the heart. Anyone mourning a breakup or having trouble in love would be wise to steer clear of the band's entire catalogue, which over the span of six albums has perfectly encapsulated the sound of a heart splintering in slow motion, devastating ultracolor bittersweetness awash in gorgeous melody and Rock-driven anthemics.
Cornering the market on achingly beautiful narratives documenting the downfall of love and compassion, the Mesa Arizona quartet expand their horizons with Invented, due out Sept. 28 on Interscope. The twelve-track collection boasts the long-overdue return of producer Mark Trombino, who worked the knobs for 1999's highwater point Clarity & Bleed American two years later, and a new character-driven lyrical approach inspired by frontman Jim Adkins' photographic enchantment. The reconnection with Trombino spawned in San Diego during the band's sold-out national tour for Clarity's 10-year anniversary. Adkins tells the rest of the story: "It had been a really long time since we had met. We talked for a while and it was good. We had already been working on material for Invented for a while, and we were thinking of hiring a producer to work with us, but we wanted someone with a specific skill set and willingness to work in a non-conventional setting." The band worked on each track in their own in their studio, Unit 2 in Tempe, Arizona and would then send the multi-track recordings to Trombino in California. "Mark is a ninja with a computer," Adkins adds, "After trying out a couple songs we knew he brought something really complimentary to the sessions." Adkins, a well-known photography nut – constructed the album's lyrics under the influence of two photo books: Cindy Sherman's "Completely Untitled Film Still" series and Hannah Starkey's "Photographs 1997-2007". He built a fictional backstory around pictures that particularly grabbed his eye, fictionalizing characters through a method known as object writing. As a result of the photographic subjects, the majority of the album's narration arrives from a female point of view, allowing Adkins the freedom to explore unfamiliar perspectives. The title track to Invented is deceptively quiet at the onset, a dreamy slow-step that holds until nearly the five minute mark, when the song explodes into blossoming gang vocals and a full Rock chorus. Its arrangement and dynamics weren't an afterthought, having developed early on in demo form. In fact, aside from backing vocals provided by indie songstress Courtney Marie Andrews, the entire acoustic section is pulled directly from the demo. Most of the album's vocals are carried over from the demo sessions as well, with Jim having found what he was looking for early on in melody and delivery. Without having to live (and pay) by someone else's studio time, the band had the luxury of meticulously crafting their songs throughout the creative process as opposed to a post-production flavor injection. Kicking off with handclaps and galloping acoustics, opener Heart is Hard To Find sports a stripped and earnest melody, doubled vocals and guitars conveying a sense of the difficulty in finding a true heart in the ocean of life's complications. At Trombino's suggestion a string section was added, giving flight to the sentiment and furthering the emotional potency. The line "I can't compete with newfound religion – the good word seems everywhere, but good words only" is the first true-ringer indication that a hard-truth narrative thread runs through the album, addressing more than hearts breaking to pieces in excruciating beauty. Most tracks on Invented involve some level of taking stock of the narrator's current predicament, a facing of one's own truth and decision to rise to higher ground. Sympathy and pity have no place here, as the quest for honesty and real fulfillment are placed on the front burner, leaving the weepiness of heartache to the margins. My Best Theory is a fitting single selection, given its big-chorus similarity in formula to Jimmy Eat World's previous work and subtle showcasing of the band's further evolution: In Evidence, only one is left holding the hope and ideas for the future after a foolish rush into love & commitment leaves the other second guessing. The narrator seems spent on giving himself so wholly to the girl, who's increasingly showing herself to be less enthusiastic about the union than he. A powerful guitar-burst chorus contrasting and jarring the sad resignation, it's one of those tracks that's impossible for anyone hurting in love to hear without the wound ripping open once more. It's what J.E.W. do better than most. An ode to the cold shoulder, the silent treatment against unrealistic expectations and the diminishing effect of wordless spite, Higher Devotion throws a curveball with a full-on dance-track chorus that doubles Adkins' vocals with Andrews', while Movielike's gang-vocal radio appeal is more Goo Goo Dolls pop than some may find comfort in. Again, the resolve to suck it up and carry on is a central theme, the bootstraps-pulling motivation furthering the album's overall sense of determined optimism. Stop is one of those signature Jimmy songs that's a sledgehammer to the heart for anyone having trouble in love. "If you're really as tough as your defenses, you'd let them fall." Allowing oneself to truly be vulnerable is a terrifying thing, even moreso when only one half of the relationship is following through. It takes a lot more courage to drop the walls & facades, in order to make a genuine connection, than it does to wallow in apathy and cool. This is the other half's request, in song. The string section returns for Littlething, along with a xylophone, in a Conor Oberst-leaning sad reflection of the great unspoken hanging in the air, killing everything else in the process. The flipside is explored in bare-bones acoustic heartcrusher Cut, from the perspective of someone who's finally realized they've outgrown the relationship, not cut out for the fight anymore. The sorrow is made that much more poignant with distant, soaring harmonies, a soft tambourine and sparse kick drums. Adkins wasn't happy with any of the lyrics he'd penned for rocker Action Needs An Audience, which would've resulted in the song's exclusion from the album had guitarist Tom Linton not stepped up with his own and offered to handle vocal duties. He knocks the task out of the park, a refreshing departure over big chords, big chorus and magnetic harmonies that screams for its time in the radio spotlight. Overall, the album is a much more acoustic affair than their previous work, but not so much that we'll have any reason to expect an unplugged tour to support it. Attention to nuance and subtlety finely tunes each track, at some points providing just the right hint of flavor to take the piece to a new place. Perhaps the best example is the album closer Mixtape, a track that went through several transformations before becoming the fantastic finished product we're given. Utterly gorgeous with slow-stepping vocals, digitized beats and sweetly heartsick keys, the song's piano track – however subtle – anchors the attention and provides a deeper emotional point of entry. It's a beautiful journey that serves as a perfect coda for Invented, the most evolved release from Jimmy Eat World to date. |
| 0 comments |
| Comments | |
|---|---|
| Be the first one to comment » |