David Bazan’s return to his most widely known creative outlet, to release their first record in 15 years, is far from a cynical retreat to better-paid pastures. Turning to the past to better understand the present on Phoenix – an invigorating and tender examination of the cyclical nature of our lives – Bazan is comforting and challenging as he welcomes back (rather than desperately trying to revive) an old friend many will be very glad to be reacquainted with: Pedro the Lion.
Phoenix, David Bazan’s first album in over 15 years under the Pedro moniker, indeed, feels more like a reconstruction than a revival.
In place of innovation ... we get an album that begs to be dissected, teeming with life and rich detail – one that sounds exactly like what the Pedro the Lion of 2019 should sound. If this is what it sounds like when a band is “in it for the money,” we all owe capitalism a small thank-you note.
Phoenix stands as a complex, giving record backed by some of Pedro the Lion’s finest musical compositions.
Far from feeling immediately accessible, Phoenix is an album which one needs to immerse themselves, exploring its intricacies and feeling the palpable emotion that, like all of Bazan’s previous work before it, is at the very core of the record.
Phoenix is much more than what floats to its surface, and far greater than the sum of its parts. It's an album of stories.
These songs are a corrective to nostalgia, or of longing for a rose-colored history that never actually happened. In reckoning with who he was and who he has become, Bazan is squaring off with the past and asking hard questions of it and himself.
As Bazan embraces his current self by looking at his former, we learn the story of his life, and by the time the 14 tracks of Phoenix are over the picture is clear.
Yes, Bazan's voice has matured significantly, but the hard-worn grain, without more musical interest to carry it forward, does nothing but add heft to an already droning sound.
I honestly love this album, even though it's not Pedro the Lion's objective best. Yellow Bike
This first album in 15 years isn’t a very strong comeback. Some forgettable songs, but colourful and nostalgic lyrics.
Best track: “Powerful Taboo”.
Delicinha de ouvir, não conhecia essa voz e estou impressionado.
bem estruturado, porém o conjunto final deixa um pouco a desejar.
Melhores Músicas: Leaving the Valley
I honestly love this album, even though it's not Pedro the Lion's objective best. Yellow Bike
This first album in 15 years isn’t a very strong comeback. Some forgettable songs, but colourful and nostalgic lyrics.
Best track: “Powerful Taboo”.
Delicinha de ouvir, não conhecia essa voz e estou impressionado.
bem estruturado, porém o conjunto final deixa um pouco a desejar.
Melhores Músicas: Leaving the Valley
1 | Sunrise 1:01 | 11 |
2 | Yellow Bike 3:53 | 53 |
3 | Clean Up 2:48 | 52 |
4 | Powerful Taboo 3:24 | 64 |
5 | Model Homes 3:21 | 53 |
6 | Piano Bench 1:38 | 58 |
7 | Circle K 3:34 | 44 |
8 | Quietest Friend 4:22 | 54 |
9 | Tracing the Grid 3:15 | 51 |
10 | Black Canyon 5:23 | 62 |
11 | My Phoenix 3:24 | 62 |
12 | All Seeing Eye 2:42 | 44 |
13 | Leaving the Valley 6:09 | 46 |
#21 | / | The Alternative |