Irish singer-songwriter Conor O’Brien returns with a delicate and personal third LP under his solo project Villagers.
Villagers/ Darling Arithmetic
‘Took a little time to get where I wanted/It took a little time to get free/It took a little time to be honest/It took a little time to be me,” goes the revelatory opening verses to Courage, the first track/lead single from Conor O’Brien’s third studio record as Villagers. A follow-up to 2013’s critically acclaimed {Awayland}, Darling Arithmetic finds the 31-year-old Dubliner decidedly going back to basics, trading the textured arrangements of his previous two albums for starker, more stripped-back sounds. Courage also makes a lot of sense on a much deeper level because it introduces us to O’Brien’s most personal record to date — on which he discusses love and relationships from the perspective of an openly gay man.
Singing, recording and playing all the instruments himself this time, O’Brien shares with the world an unprecedented amount of intimacy and sincerity. Apart from the stunning earnestness of Courage, he muses about love and longing on tracks like Everything I Am Is Yours and Dawning on Me. Both are gentle acoustic numbers that feature soft sounds of strummed guitar, brushed drums and plinking piano. Much of the record relies on those elements, resulting in a coherent soundscape and perfectly mellow listening experience.
As far as the lyricism goes, there’s always a mixture of bittersweet honesty and swift wordplay to be delighted in. On Hot Scary Summer, for example, he reminisces about a past love, crooning, “Remember kissing on the cobblestone/In the heat of the night/And all the pretty young homophobes/Looking out for a fight … We got good at pretending/Then pretending got us good.” Little Bigot, on the other hand, sees him aiming squarely at his detractors with a casual attitude (“It’s OK to be tired/So take the blame, little bigot/And throw that hatred onto the fire”).
The record’s last two offerings, No One to Blame and So Naive, sound like they could have been merged into one long continuous track. And once again it’s actually the lyrics that stand out from the sparse production (“Excuse me while I die/A million times before I meet your eyes with mine” on the former and “How did I get here?/Am I ever gonna get back?” on the latter).
Make no mistake, Darling Arithmetic is a collection of gorgeously crafted tunes that feels utterly internal and private, and is never once laconic. These qualities truly complement O’Brien’s mesmerising vocals, taking them to a whole new level. This is an important record because it illustrates how one man comes to terms with his own identity, and how he handles all those associated emotions with considerable artistic panache and integrity. n
THE PLAYLIST
The Jukks/ Noid A (Paranoid Man)
Local indie-rock trio The Jukks returns with a new single, Noid A (Paranoid Man), a characteristically tongue-in-cheek jam that will put a grin on a listener’s face. As far as the music goes, it’s an upbeat pop-rock number punctuated with stabs of electric guitars. But as with the group’s previous material, the Jukks shine the brightest when it comes to the lyrics that are both cheeky and relatable. Noid A finds lead singer Saruyot “Gan” Kongmee getting all paranoid because he’s not being able to get a hold of his sweetheart: “I’m getting super worried, where have you gone, baby?/You’re being all quiet/But if you’re in the toilet, I’d better leave you alone/I might try you again at midnight.”
We Were Evergreen/ Be Like You
Known for crafting delectable indie-pop jams like Daughters and False Start, French three-piece We Were Evergreen haven’t disappointed with their take on Be Like You from Disney’s classic The Jungle Book. Here, the Parisian trio has replaced the original’s playful jazziness with slightly darker electronics while also adding to it a vocal interplay between male and female (Michael Liot and Fabienne Débarre). The production, as a result, could easily be used to soundtrack the futuristic remake of The Jungle Book — if there is ever to be one.
Mumford and Sons/ The Wolf
So the lads of Mumford and Sons weren’t kidding when they announced that there would be no banjos on their new record Wilder Mind. Following the electronic-sounding lead single Believe, The Wolf veers off into a straight-up rock path, featuring fast-paced guitars, electric bass and unrelenting drums. Giving a gravely vocal delivery to match, frontman Marcus Mumford sings, “Been wandering for days/How you feel me slip your mind/Leave behind your wanton ways/I want to learn to love in kind/You’re all I ever longed for.” While Believe sounds like the latter-day Coldplay, The Wolf recalls early works of the Foo Fighters.
Carly Rae Jepsen/ All That
Hot on the heels of the annoyingly catchy lead single I Really Like You, Carly Rae Jepsen rolls out the second cut from her forthcoming third studio album, E·MO·TION. Co-written and produced by well known nostalgia pop wizard Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes), All That takes its inspiration from ’80s ballads from its first few synth flourishes and a flick of bass all the way down to that dreamy chorus. “Show me if you want me if I’m all that/I will be that, I will be your friend,” sings the Canadian singer-songwriter, doing her best to downplay her puppy love desire.
Hot Chip/ Need You Now
Need You Now, the second single from Hot Chip’s forthcoming sixth studio record Why Make Sense?, is a slice of wistful synthpop the London group has always been known for, and then some. Sampling Sinnamon’s 1983 single I Need You Now, the track sees vocalist Alexis Taylor crooning, “Never dreamed we would belong in world that’s just gone wrong/And if we try to stand alone, We’ll be playing with a force beyond control” over skittering beats and percussion. There is something quite intriguing about the way Taylor’s calm and collected vocals clash with Sinnamon’s wailing of “I need you now” that will keep bouncing around your head long after the song’s finished. n
