Tom McRae's new album is out in the UK. Amazon delivered my copy and now I must blather about it.
This is going to be totally random.
I love love love My Vampire Heart. It is just so Tom.
Border Song single version vs album version? I love them both the same, I think it's just cool to hear how you can have the same song sound so different and mean something entirely different by inflection/instruments used, etc. The first version was like "I am young and my love is pure" and this version is "reverential/post-break up, kinda sad/bitter about it, but I'll be okay."
For The Restless perfectly sets the mood for the album and Border Song is the perfect ending. The album as a whole feels like a letter to me. I should have written these thoughts down as I listened for the first time so I could explain what I mean a little better. The album has a much more distinct common thread throughout it, more so than JLB or self titled. I don't think this makes it necessarily better, it's just neat how well he pulled that off. The songs are different and yet there is a common thread through all of the songs. So listening to it in order makes it feel like a letter to you-the-listener.
I love the breathy quality he uses in his voice. It's damn sexy.
Hummingbird, I think, would sound better live. I'm not to keen on the electric guitar being held out for so long and the pace of the song drags a little. But the lyrics are just what I'd expect from Tom (absolute perfection).
The Girl Who Falls Downstairs is going to need to grow on me. I think it's just so different, so upbeat and catchy, that I'll just need some time to get used to it. There were songs like this on JLB too. (Not songs that sounded like TGWFD, but songs that had to grow on me, now I love them as much as all of the rest.) Also, this one is a little heavy on the guitar too. It's a new aspect of Tom's music that's going to have to grow on me obviously. It works really well in some of the songs, not so much in others.
How the West Was Won is still great. It's not that different from the live version we had so I don't have the much else to say about it. Very good song.
Packing for the Crash : same as above.
It Ain't You is in my top three of the album. Love the horn. Such a great song. Again, I'm not very eloquent tonight, but it's Tom, I get all non-verbal and overwhelmed with lovelovelove when it comes to him.
Strangest Land is one of the few that were completely new to me. Another good song, (big surprise) so many great lines. Great imagery. The guitar works here.
My Vampire Heart. Darling I'm lost. Also in the top three of the album. (If it don't end in bloodshed, dear, it's probably not love.) The female vocalist they got for this one is perfect for this song/Tom's voice.
Silent Boulevard. Another song written for a city, love that. Another beautiful song. I know it must get old to hear me say that, but it's true.
A random thought about the album, where was Oli K? Seriously underused. I love the use of cello in Tom's music. I can see where he was taking this album in new areas and how the cello might not have worked with that, but I still miss it.
On Tom's message board this guy was complaining about how the album has no growth, how Tom didn't make any progress, etc. WTF? Is he listening to the same album I am? This sound is so very different from JLB that it was almost a little to foreign to me at first. The drums, the electric guitar, female vocalist, happy sounding songs (they're not really happy, they just almost sound like it. ;)) horns, LA influences, etc. FULL OF GROWTH AND CHANGE. FUCKWAD.
Still Lost- the point in the album where I realized that not only is all of the above different, but so is the audience/subject. These songs sound like they were written for a particular person. Boy with the Bubblegun, Streetlight, Human Remains, on and on and on, sounded like they could have been written for someone (ex)romantic, but were really written for Tony Blair, London, his dad, etc. I don't know who Tom wrote these for, but it feels very different to previous audience/subject/people.
Which leads to me the great artwork (WHERE CAN I GET LARGER COPIES OF THOSE GREAT PICTURES? MUST HAVE THEM!!) and the interesting note on the final page, dedicating the album to his hummingbird. Wonder who that is?
And I really really need a pretty new Tom icon.
*is very jealous of everyone who is watching VMars right now*