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Finally, in all
excitement...a new Dishwalla album, and a reinvention...again.
After an already successful career, the new album simply titled
Dishwalla brings the band full circle, back to beginnings and
bringing with them all they have learned. 40 Stories begins the
album, and clearly you can feel the energy difference from Opaline.
It is a heavier song, but still trendy...and most of all layered with
texture. This track would make a great single, and it wouldn't surprise me
to have it see airplay in the future.
Speaking of singles, the
lead follows with Collide. While it is a remarkable song, its
melody is extremely similarity to Home (strangely) and prohibits me
from enjoying this song to the full extend I could. Thankfully the
similarity ends at the chorus. Now that I'm hearing similarities, I can't
stop. Ease the Moment strangely sounds like Moisture, but
only a little bit. Sadly the verse is much stronger than the chorus, and
the breakdown is much better than the pick-up.
Coral Sky is most
likely the favorite on the album. To fans, this song used to be entitled
The One and can be found on the Gems rarities album.
Coral Sky is a big improvement over an already incredible song.
Filled with energy and flavor, the production is phenomenal, and several
parts have been reworked from the demo...making it a far superior version.
Its an awesome song...and it WILL be a single.
Winter Sun is
another amazing song. Jim's keys are mellow and heartfelt, and make the
song. Its also a deeply moving song: "Will the winter sun keep us warm in
these cold times? Will the winter sunlight keep you warm until I'm torn
and alive?" I love it...its perfection. Creeps in the Stone is also
a solid track, giving the listener a long introduction of acoustic guitars
and slide for over a minute and half before the song really begins.
Likewise the outro is also a minute and a half. This is the most unusual
song Dishwalla has ever attempted (actually...it feels more like a
clip). Kudos for making the album!
The album begins to drag a
bit with Surrender the Crown and Bleeding Out. The songs
begin to sound alike, similar to And You Think You Know What Life's
About. Thankfully, Life for Sale breaks things up a bit
with the jumpy verse beat and beautiful synthesizer layers.
Above the Wreckage
is another incredible song, convincing me that Dishwalla is capable
of much more than what is heard on this album. Also, its good to see Jim's
keys make more prominent appearances in these songs...in fact, I believe
they make songs like this. Far Away is another great song,
and is the perfect end track.. The album closes out with a bonus remix of
Collide, that is strangely better than the album cut, and is a
throw-back to Opaline style. (The similarities to Home
are even more apparent here.)
After the impressive
release of Opaline anything would have been a letdown, and
after listening to Dishwalla I highly doubt they could ever
top Opaline. This album is definitely a maturity from the
first two albums as the band has combined their original sound with all
they learned during the last ten years and blended it beautifully
together.
However, I feel unfulfilled
listening to this album. It almost feels like the band is pushing at a
creative barrier they have yet to break through. In that light, this album
seems to embody everything Dishwalla was and is, but not what they
could be. I have no doubt that they will grow even more on this tour and
their next album. This is even more true now that Scot has left the band
to spend time with his family. Dishwalla is now on the verge of a
completely new identity... |
