During the
creation of Canadian based Sam Roberts Band’s latest album, the group decidedly
chose to experiment with somewhat contrasting styles when compared to earlier
work. However, they successfully managed to pull of their risky venture with
most of the songs coming across as an extension of their vast library of
indie-rock jams instead of an oddly mismatched collection. Aside from just
that, the group has drawn on some reliable, ever-present instrumental talents
as well as their own experience for their fifth studio album Lo-Fantasy with lead vocalist and
former frontrunner of Northstar, Sam Roberts, penning the majority of the record.
Right from the
start, you get a taste of what the album is going to be from the atmospheric and
synth-driven "Shapeshifter." That is to say the album is a chameleon of sorts,
with enough layers and depth for you to get something out of it no matter what
type of mood you’re in. This is even more prominent in the bands first single "We’re All In This Together," which pleasantly fuses socially conscious lyrics
with dancefloor rhythms. Robert’s summed up this song's lyrical ingenuity by
saying "This was the last song written for Lo-Fantasy
and, as often happens, the last song captures the spirit of the whole record." If it were tangible. the spirit of this album would best be defined by it’s own
lyrics of "We're all in this together, so keep
moving don't stop, keep moving don't stop."
Stylistically, the
songs vary between the rumbling bass and punchy percussion beats of "Kid Icarus" to the banging party beats in "Chasing the Light." Where the album really
shines though is in songs like "Human Heat" as it offers a good mesh of
traditional Sam Roberts sound while still altering a few small production
techniques to give the music contemporary, new life. Although the album doesn’t
falter into the generic, mainstream pop-rock genre, it does have its fair share
of boring and wasteful tracks like "Never Enough" and "Golden Hour." These
tracks aren’t completely unlistenable, but they do unfortunately fall into the
category of unmemorable and as such they have no long-term listenability.
Some people look
across the seas to the UK or New Zealand to find the latest and greatest
musical acts yet to make it to America, however, with acts like Sam Roberts
Band just over the bridge in Canada, they may want to spend their time looking
for domestically emerging acts instead. Above being a sonically diverse album
to play it’s an even stronger medium for the band’s submissive and ethically
humane messages that are cryptically hidden within the song’s lyrics. That in
and of itself is what makes this album a strong contender against other group’s
during this often musically crippled month.
Grade: B+
