“The cheesier songs all end with a smile, this one wont end with a smile, my love.” This line, from album standout “Bugs Don’t Buzz” but serves as a mission statement for Devon Welsh, who, along with multi-instrumentalist Matthew Otto, make up Montreal-based duo Majical Cloudz. Much like The National’s Matt Berninger, Welsh trades in melancholy, using a similar low baritone to express himself. However, where Berninger’s leanings are usually given life by his group’s immaculate musicianship and rich arrangements, Welsh prefers to keep things spare, which serves to highlight his personal lyrics. This all combines to make the duo’s latest record, Impersonator, a highly uncomfortable but admirable listen.
The word to describe the production here is spartan. All the arrangements are stripped down to their bare essence, with only occasional appearances by drums or percussion, mostly relying on keyboards and Welsh’s authoritative voice to carry the brunt of the music. This lends a bit of sameness to the record as it progresses, but also makes the more fleshed out tunes, such as “Turns Turns Turns” stand out from the pack. Overall, however, Impersonator is a largely somber affair.
Welsh’s lyrics throughout only reinforce this feeling. He declares “I wanna be somebody’s darling” on the title track, and the emotion swells through in his delivery. It may be a bit melodramatic, to be sure (he hasn’t mastered Matt Berninger’s skill for subtlety and quiet menace), but proves to be an effective, if blunt, way of conveying himself. “This Is Magic” is one of the more egregious offenders, with its vocal melody constantly jumping for dramatic peak notes at the end of every phrase, but still works because of Welsh’s innate vocal skills. This works even when he’s dropping lines as overblown as “I see some monsters standing over my crib.” More impressive still, he manages to make “went down on me” into a catchy hook on “Childhood’s End,” a bit of an overwrought illustration of the title, but somehow still works.
Impersonator is a difficult album to parse. Majical Cloudz are certainly skilled at what they do, but it is still so unseemly and uneasy at times as to be a bit of a turn off. And, at least to these ears, lines like “I would love you, I would love to,” when combined with that delivery, come off pretty heavy-handed. Still, to be able to capture Big Feelings in such a controlled, sterile environment is an achievement in itself. Impersonator ends up being reminiscent of a museum piece, easy to admire from afar, but very difficult to get close to.
Grade: B-
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