Manchester Orchestra’s six year career has produced two albums and seven EPs, all of which hinted at a potential that until now was never fully realised. You will however, get an insight into a period in someone’s life and an appreciation of the importance of balance and thematic consistency. Despite telling a story, the narrative isn’t linear so if you’re expecting a happy ending you won’t get one. The tempo is spot on and a lot of thought has been put into how the album progresses.
None of this distracts from the magnificence of the album as a whole. ‘ Pale Black Eyes‘ is equally candid: “God damn I’m tired of crying, I wish I loved you like I used to,” but suffers from being repetitive. His wife’s miscarriage is the subject and told with unrelenting frankness, but the melody is so upbeat as to almost trivialise it. ‘ Apprehension‘ is like taking a peak into someone’s diary on the worst day of their life. If this album has a weak spot it’s that the two songs that encapsulate this are probably, in many respects, the weakest. Great songwriters have the ability to take a tragedy and make it both beautiful and painful.
Occasionally songs come along that are so honest they’re almost uncomfortable to listen to. Here they’re used as punctuation, complimenting rather than overpowering. Manchester Orchestra always use strings to best effect. It’s sung with a heartbreaking fragility and proves that Hull’s often mesmerising voice sounds better when he keeps it simple, the use of voice changers on some of the other tracks merely distracts. Pondering on the meaning of existence and his place in the world, Hull himself has described this as the best song he’s ever written. The title track is proof, if it were needed, that Hull was in the midst of an existential crisis. These are arguably the best songs on the album and not surprisingly, two of the single releases. This however is merely the appetiser for the two tracks that follow, ‘ Virgin‘ and the titular ‘ Simple Math‘. With a more narrative structure than they usually employ, it’s also the most upbeat track on the album, but continues the theme of mixing light-hearted humour with pathos. Third track ‘ Pensacola‘ establishes itself as a potential stand-out track at this early stage. Despite descending briefly into self-indulgence: “Dear everybody that has paid to see my band, it’s still confusing, I’ll never understand,” it’s one of the album’s more touching tracks. Like most of Manchester Orchestra’s offerings, it has nothing as bourgeois as a chorus, but with lyrics like this it doesn’t need one. Dealing with the subject of loneliness and isolation and the inevitable loss of confidence that comes with it, ‘Deer’ is beautifully and brutally honest. As a result the album achieves a delicate balance of loss and hope, light and shade. Their previous brand of guitar-driven rock might not sound like the right formula for delivering the kind of tortured anguish that this description invokes, but the difference between this and their previous offerings is that they’ve added a string section.
He called it “a reaction to my mental, physical and marital failures.” The album documents the near breakdown of their relationship, as well as its eventual recovery. He admits the album was written during the first two years of his marriage, when his relationship with his wife reached a crisis point. Almost everyone has that artist that “changed their life”, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am without Radiohead.Manchester Orchestra‘s ‘ Simple Math‘ is not strictly a concept album, but front man Andy Hull describes it as such. Likewise, the director also clearly reveals a love of Radiohead with his selection, which he happily admits, adding: “I’d offer up my future firstborn child to direct a video for Radiohead or any Thom Yorke project. His selection couples both the new and old featuring the old MTV classic of ‘Weapon of Choice’ by Fatboy Slim directed by Spike Jonze who has since turned his attention to films like Her and Where the Wild Things Are.
Thus, as part of our discussion, he kindly selected what he considers to be the best music videos offered up throughout the ages. In the same way, I will often listen to specific songs while visualizing a script I love to scan image libraries while brainstorming for a music video.” While working alongside such huge stars from a different realm might seem daunting, Donoho has a creative method that keeps everything on an even keel, as he explains: “Occasionally a concept will come to mind right off the bat, but more often than not, I have to plant the seed of an idea and cultivate it.
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