Album Review: Anchor & Braille - Felt

It only takes a quick look back into the archives of this blog to see that I've been waiting in eager anticipation for the release of Anchor & Braille's debut album "Felt" for a while. While the album was released early this month I quickly discovered that none of the local stores carried it. My order from Amazon finally arrived yesterday. So, here is my review in two sections:

The Music
Perhaps it is because I am used to hearing rough cut versions of songs like Mary Agnosia on Purevolume and MySpace, but the album as a whole strikes me as being a little to polished. I appreciate the rawness and emotion of the songs, but I feel like some of this may have been lost in the album. The fact that Aaron Marsh produced the album is clear throughout. In most cases this is a good thing, especially if you are a fan of Copeland latest project You Are My Sunshine. There are a few instances, however, where the style of Marsh seems to be forced onto Anchor & Braille's music. One such case is the addition of brass in the bridge for "Sleep. When we die." It isn't bad, per say, but it seems unnecessary. In the end, however, these shortcomings are relatively minor and the album as whole shines of musical brilliance. The songs are simple yet captivating, lulling you to sleep, yet you do not want to for fear that you will miss out on the experience of simply listening.

The Lyric Booklet
When I first opened up the lyric book I was a bit confused. I wasn't sure if I was reading lyrics or not. As it turns out, not. Instead of putting the lyrics beneath each song title, Christian has chosen to include a few paragraphs which give deeper meaning to the song. In some cases he tells why he wrote the song, other times his words follow the lyrics very closely. It is amazing to see how these words can bring new depth and meaning to the songs.

In the end this is a great album. I'm sure it will be one of my favourites for many years to come. Certainly I was a little dissapointed in a few tracks and perhaps it didn't quite live up to the hype I had created for it in my own mind, but it is still an extremely enjoyable listen. Don't take my word for it, though - give it a listen yourself!

More Reviews
AbsolutePunk.net
The Album Project

Buy the album on Amazon.com