It’s hard to resist writing a tome about this album, but the 11 tracks on Noah And The Whale’s Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down do a lot without Big Noise or circumlocution, so I’ll at least try to return the favor…
The swinging and crippling melodies of the titletrack and ‘Shape of My Heart’ belie the torment within… is someone conflicted internally with themselves and externally with the presence - or absence - of love? Tension is everywhere on this album, and both absence and fulfillment are equally represented, and beautifully at that. But whatever the lump sum of praises vs. rejections of God, spirit and love, the music nets a victory for joy. If our narrator is torn between an existential celebration of the Self and an undeniable attraction to the Almighty, the music says, “whatever it is, it’s going to be all right,” and it’s easy to believe. It’s a tribute to life (”life is fleeting, and I love you, and love surrounds you like an ether,”) and death (”let’s leave [the baby] to the wolves so they turn it to food; its flesh keeps it alive, oh and death helps life survive, and life can be kind in its own way”), love and hate, despair and hope.
But wait… there’s levity here too. All of this happens without heavy-handedness, and the melodies would be just as emotive if they were singing the recipe for vegan pancakes (just trying to imagine the blandest food conceivable). It’s sometimes difficult to believe Bob Marley when he sings, “Every little thing gonna be all right,” especially during the months of January through March. But NATW convincingly frame heartbreak and death - the death of a newborn at the hands of lycanthropes, nonetheless - to be a thing of benevolence and comfort. It’s like the Altman movie Prairie Home Companion… sucks that you have to die, but at least it’s Virginia Madsen that takes you to the Next World.
Unfortunately, the frustratingly catchy ‘Five Years Time’ is going to turn a lot of people, and out of context it should… no matter how much you end up hating (or loving) the song, you’ll accidentally whistle along and its cloying melody will be stuck in your cerebral cortex for good. It’s too bad they chose this song for the single - there are plenty of superior songs on the album (10 of them, to be exact) that are guaranteed not to piss you off nearly as much as this one. For the kids, I guess…
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I forgot about the syrup! Rice cakes then… nothing blander than rice cakes, unless, of course, they’re topped w/ meat.
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Comment by Commissar Startastic — July 18, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
Fortunately for vegan pancakes, there is unlimited maple syrup!