Nothing best captures the initial New Year spirit
of living in the now more so this year than Young the Giant’s sophomore album Mind Over Matter. Those who enjoyed the
free formed, cryptic style lyrics of the band’s first album will find a slight
change in their recent efforts, which features a more cohesive and meaningful
subtext. If anything has changed in the four-year gap between albums, it’s that
this time around their overall message strikes a stronger chord, often speaking
of how when we indulge ourselves in self-doubt we can end up paralyzing ourselves.
Even though the oblique themes of the first album
are enhanced in the band’s second attempt by successfully illustrating how to
revel in the raw emotion of the moment, the album is still flawed in a few
aspects. Floating around in almost every track is a disjointed production style
that tries to add nuance by boosting the amount of background noise and sound.
Instead the over production is a wash of reverb and fuzz that makes the album
sound vague while lacking any aesthetically pleasing production direction. The
instrumentation is also doused with extra distortion, which adds a swelled, raw
force that’s completely unnecessary due to the amount of noise already put in
during production. As a result, when the guitar lines sometimes attempt
at complexity it comes across muddled because of the lack of crispness in
production techniques.
With that said, the album is a far cry away from
being a failure or waste of time. All of Young the Giant’s artistry pleasantly
molds into a harmonious, mellifluous combination on tracks like “Firelight.” This
is where the change from their self-titled debut album and now becomes most apparent
as they decidedly chose to go for an augmented Beach Boys throwback vibe in the
song’s opening unlike anything they have yet to experiment with before. Lyrically, they went with a
thought-provoking chorus of “I don't believe you. I'm in a parachute. Falling
in deep. Sleep. Out of control. Can you feel it? Is this the end of the road?
Trick up your sleeve. Breathe.” All in all that song gets right what most of
the album struggles with, which is to say it effectively combines some unmarred
contemporary melodies in the form of intricate instrumentals while bringing the
main themes of Mind Over Matter full
circle.
Similar to the previous track is another unorthodox
fusion, titled “Crystallized,” which blends together funky and catchy rhythms
that are surprisingly upbeat to listen to, yet compared to their biggest hit
“Cough Syrup,” it showcases a more mellowed down and softer side. Just like
“Firelight,” this song goes back a few decades in terms of sound while the
lyrics are a tad bit more uplifting with poetic strife’s like “Tears you cry
screaming at the sky. Come outside. The rays are shining bright.” The
coalescing of these two elements makes for an intriguing viewpoint of Young the
Giant’s musical transition between albums and lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia holds
up the track with his raw passion gleaming through his words. On the first
single “It’s About Time,” his vocals however are not so passionate or enduring.
The song does have a tight production, even though at parts its sound is a
little overwhelming, yet Gadhia seems to be pushing his vocals to an
uncomfortable upper register that doesn’t quite compliment the song’s rhythmic
flows. His vocals are best suited on the title track since
it’s more of that folk-inspired indie rock that showcases the smoothness in his
voice for an emotionally driven performance.
What I appreciate the most about Young the Giant's effort on Mind Over Matter is how they attempted to evolve their music by utilizing different stylistic elements that were foreign in the first album. Aside from the vast improvements in lyrical subtext and overall themes there is still a hugely flawed issue with the band's choice's of instrumental content that often comes across grossly overproduced. I'm sure as they continue down there growing path as artists they will work out these kinks in their music, but as for now the album lacks clear cut focus and solid euphonies to have any sort of long-term durability.
Grade: C+
