Villagers - {Awayland} Review

Villagers - {Awayland}

Track List:

1. My Lighthouse

2. Earthly Pleasure

3. The Waves

4. Judgement Call

5. Nothing Arrived

6. The Bell 

7. {Awayland}

8. Passing A Message

9. Grateful Song

10. In A Newfound Land You Are Free

11. Rhythm Composer

7 / 10

Here's Why:

Conor O’Brien, lead singer and songwriter for Villagers must be on another level of consciousness. His storytelling ability must have something to do with his Irish background. Musically, he’s played with a few bands before Villagers.  Conor creatively sings deep and rather eye opening phrases while painting vivid images with diction. The craftiness is incredible! Their first album, Becoming a Jackal was released in 2010 and had great reviews. I imagine it was because of Conor’s wonderful first impression. His outstanding song writing is a treat to the new listeners.

This album, {Awayland} has so many great moments, chord changes and harmonies. “My Lighthouse” starts off the album by putting it in its place. Poetically, acoustically with somewhat of a dark enchantment, the album continues to carry along like this. It is as if Conor is writing songs which influenced a medieval storyteller. “Earthly Pleasure” like many of the others depicts a haunting image thinly framed with hope. The hope is the uplifting chords brought in after a chilling vocal line. The vocabulary used is spectacular and the rhymes, being predictable at times are pieced together carefully. (Did I just rhyme?)

“Nothing Arrived”, the 5^th track on the album starts off with a Bright Eyes type of feel. (Any one who’s heard Bright Eyes could agree there are a lot of similarities between the two.) This was a single back in December and I can see why. It has the most potential to be liked by a larger crowd. It is comforting to know that Conor is able to put out another album of great songs. The majority of them are cleverly devised tunes. He never goes over the top, or foolishly extends a chorus or verse. When the band’s dynamic changes and briefly becomes louder Conor blends in and continues to contribute to the sound.

I feel that listening to this album will get you to feel like you want to be awakened. You’ll want to think deeper. While listen to the Villagers’ music you need to be fully engaged in the now and he is capable of helping you do that. Your ears will involuntarily perk to the sound of Conor’s voice and the delivery of the lyrics. The piano keyboard makes for a great addition and compliments the guitar nicely.

But after listening, you understand that you don’t really have to think like that to better yourself. For those not able to think and feel deeply some phrases might be frightening. (As frightening as a philosophy teacher could be.) I like to refer to this style as philosophical folk rock. You hear a lot of emotion from almost every folk rock band. New artists attempt to mention deeper ideas, but Conor can easily make them seem like surface thoughts.

“Off goes the bell ringing through my head signifies that all’s been said,” from “The Bell” helps describe why nothing really stuck with me. No specific line was swirling around my head hours after listening to it. Not like “Becoming A Jackal” was. The previous hit was in my head for days after hearing and sharing it on the Internet. For me, “Nothing Arrived” was the closest to that. I’m not going to deny that his vocal melodies flowed pleasantly into my ears and had me following him up and down every melodic step.

The album length was appropriate. I wasn’t left wanting more but the over all beauty of {Awayland} got me inspired and had me thinking throughout. The solid guitar riffs, sophisticated finger picking and chord changes kept me content. This leaves me with the decision of giving it a decent 7 out of 10.