With Arrows, With Poise, The Myriad
A year ago last week, I stood in a near empty hallway of Carlton University in Ottawa, watching a band called The Myriad knock out quite an active set. Without exaggerating, I comprised 10% of the crowd. Since then, the band signed to heavy-hitter indie label KOCH Records, was voted MTV2's breakout artist of the year (which garnered them heavy airplay on the station), and has toured with big names like David Crowder, MuteMath, and Eisley.
1 year.
Also within that year, the band's second full-length hit the shelves. "With Arrows, With Poise" was mixed at Hansa Studios (where Bowie did his Berlin trilogy and U2 first attempted "Achtung Baby") and mastered at Abbey Road Studios (I assume there's no need to reference Abbey Road, is there?). The album stuffs 12 ambitious tracks into a catchy little hi-fi bundle that I personally enjoy quite a bit. However, it's at this point that I must warn you if, say by chance, you're a Christian Radio Programmer reading this article: You might be torn.
The Myriad is a group of gentlemen who share general Christian beliefs, and who make good, quality music. For some of you Christian Music fans, this is enough to put them on your radar. But to be honest, this album doesn't have much ready-made content for the average CCM listener. The band wears their influences on their "I wish I were Radiohead" sleeves, with many of their ideas being creatively recycled from popularly unpopular mainstream acts, and the majority of their lyrics are decidedly vague.
But wait! Don't go yet!
Midway through the record comes a shining moment of clarity that many will appreciate, regardless of your religious bent: A Thousand Winters Melting. This ode to Love is by far the most discernible message on the album, packaged in one of the most radio-friendly melodies, and it gives everyone reason enough to check out the album if you haven't already.
As for a proper review of the rest of the album...well, check it out and then write your own.
Kingdom Of Comfort, Delirious?
***This review originally appeared in More Radio, May 2008 (www.moreradio.ca)***
Well, the British boys are back once again with a brand new studio album, "Kingdom Of Comfort", internationally released on April 14th. The cover of the album suggests they went grocery shopping in an all-white-instrument music store after going for takeout hamburgers, and something went terribly wrong. I'm not sure of the symbolism, but I'm quite sure it's in there...somewhere...
Bands often get knocked for not evolving, but a lot of the bands that evolve get knocked for not holding their ground. I'd say Delirious? gave up this struggle a few albums back and decided to keep doing what they do = some straight out rock + some straight out worship + an intersection of the two. This being the bands' 9th studio album, they've dug a niche deep enough that they'd need a helicopter to get out. But maybe that's ok. It's a pretty good niche.
On the album's 7th track ("How Sweet The Name"), Smith sings "So many songs I've sung, but there's none more beautiful than You". This song is sandwiched between the lead single "We Give You Praise" and one of the shining pop-rock tracks "Wonder" (the other being "God Is Smiling"), creating a center-strong record, and I can't help but wonder if Smith isn't giving himself away. For all their efforts to be an edgy rock band (tracks like "Stare The Monster Down" and the Oasis cry of "Give What You Got"), the songs that translate best are the clear cut "worship" songs. The two album closers ("All God's Children" and "My Soul Sings") provide a built-in singalong, and they point you to the real strengths of Delirious?: their sense of melody and their love for God/the church.
Maybe the tipped over grocery cart is intended to suggest that if we hoard or overload our lives with stuff, not allowing generosity to be our rule of thumb, it'll all come crashing down on us. Perhaps it's an environmental statement. Or, maybe the band has decided to officially forgo the need for variety and stick to only the color white. Regardless of the picture on the front, this album is worth listening to.