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At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews aren’t about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.

Musical Thesis: David Ramirez “We’re Not Going Anywhere”

In the album “We’re Not Going Anywhere,” David Ramirez is a trinity of people living inside one man. He is a performer who continues to wrestle with life on the road and giving of oneself to complete strangers. He is a partner struggling with the extremes of a relationship. He is a citizen with a need to protest the injustices of the current administration. As he explores all three versions of himself, he does so with trademark vulnerability and honesty. In my mind, this is his best album by far because it reveals the complexities of this new world we are all trying to manage. Never before has his thesis shined so brightly. For that, I recommend giving this album and artist a chance.

Musical Thesis: The War on Drugs “A Deeper Understanding”

“A Deeper Understanding” by The War on Drugs is one of my all-time favorite albums. From beginning to end and taken as a whole collection, I believe it to be a near-perfect collection of songs. Each song feels profoundly personal and authentic. Even though you are living in someone else’s story, I still found myself able to picture myself in the same places with the same people. I also think it presents a strong message about finding joy in the pain and continuing the fight. Lastly, the way in which this album subtlety takes you on a journey over expansive songs makes me want to be a better writer and find ways to do more with less.

Musical Thesis: Queens of the Stone Age “Villains”

We are all victims of circumstance. In fact, our collected experiences are merely us responding to the cards we have been dealt. With Queens of the Stone Age and their album, “Villains,” there is an attempt to analyze these circumstances. For their part, they seem to decide to move on from what they cannot change and change what they can. I think there is a powerful lesson to be had for us all in this idea. Often, the only thing we can do is decide how we will respond. There is a lesson to be learned in each experience, but there are some things that cannot be changed. Human nature wants more control, but that is just ego talking. Instead, we should live, learn, and then move on to the next moment. Thanks for the reminder Queens of the Stone Age.

Musical Thesis: Iron & Wine “Beast Epic”

I have been listening to Iron & Wine for more than a decade. I keep returning because he is one of a handful of artists that possesses the incredible power of being able to quiet me down, ground me, and wash calm over my busy shores. With “Beast Epic,” that power still remains, but for the first time in a while, I get the sense of a happier artist and creator. In this collection of songs, I hear a man singing of love to give and a place for healing. As I think of these concepts, I am struck by their application to my own life.

More often than not, we must swim through an ocean of bad dates, incompatible potential partners, and a few heartbreaks to find the person we love. In this person, we find a person to love without effort and a place to heal from the pain we have experienced. This does not mean the potential to experience this sort of pain again goes away. It is always there. Love is a ship in need of constant repair after all, but after such an arduous search it is such a relief to find safe harbor.

Musical Thesis: Grizzly Bear “Painted Ruins”

“Painted Ruins” by Grizzly Bear is an album where nothing is solved. This is not meant as an insult. Sometimes life is too complex to be solved in 49 minutes. Instead of arching toward some grand breakthrough, this album serves as a deeply personal entry and moment of self-reflection. Part spiritual hum and part character-driven story, you, as the listener, are left to pick your own adventure and derive your own meaning from each song and the collection as a whole. In a world where so many artists seem determined to preach what they know, the ambiguity of this album is something I found refreshing.

Musical Thesis: Grandaddy “The Sophtware Slump”

When I listen to “The Sophtware Slump” by Grandaddy, I hear a character-driven album focused on individuals wrestling with what it means to return home when you are grasping for something good in this world. This challenge is profound, and it took me several listens to discover some real-world applications for my own life.

Home has always been a shelter for me against the challenges of the world. Yet, as I grow older, I am finding it harder to identify with the place I was born. Some of this is political. Some of it is religion. Much of it is values. Those I grew up with have a different definition of good than I do. The struggle lies in our actions and how we present our beliefs. Outside of my childhood home, there are people who see the world differently than I do. There are people who perceive me as the enemy. It is up to me to choose how I respond. I do not know if that was the intention of this album, but it is the thought I am holding onto dearly.

Musical Thesis: Ray Lamontagne “Till the Sun Turns Black”

Ray Lamontagne possesses a gift. Better than most of his contemporaries, he possesses a talent to explore the spectrum of love and express his findings in a meditative form. As you listen to his work, you are invited to compare and contrast your own life. As I listen to “Till the Sun Turns Back,” I hear a more restrained form of the blues. I hear love gained and lost. I hear someone exploring all that means. I hear someone attempting to hold a conversation about our relationships. Over the course of his career, Ray Lamontagne has dug deeper and deeper into this subject. I, for one, consider myself to share in his discoveries.

Musical Thesis: Lord Huron “Strange Trails”

Buried within the alt-country, folk feel of “Strange Trails” by Lord Huron is a haunting examination of love and a deep desire to start over. Stepping back, you realize some relationships in your life or in your past have taken the same path. Retracing your steps, it can become an impossible feat to figure out how things got so toxic, so out of balance, and so dark. This person sitting across from you once held your whole world and now they hold disdain. At its core, I think this album serves as a cautionary tale demanding we be careful of the things we say or do to those we love. If we are not careful, we might find a similar fate.

Musical Thesis: Offa Rex “The Queen of Hearts”

Whatever The Decemberists produce, I am there for it. When I heard they were joining forces with Olivia Chaney to produce an album drawing from English, Irish, and Scottish folk music, I was instantly intrigued. What was born out of that collaboration is a character forward and driven collection of hauntingly reimagined songs, some known by a wide audience and some lost to time. Each song manages to bridge the Atlantic divide and feel real, no matter the audience. Which brings us to the thesis of this album and something I hope demands to be uncovered. We, as consumers of pop culture, assume the thing we just experienced was the best thing to ever occur. We are reluctant to dig deeper into our history. This reluctance leaves a vast world of music, movies, and novels unexplored. We can do better. I can do better, and this album will serve as my encouragement to keep exploring.

Musical Thesis: Father John Misty “Pure Comedy”

“Pure Comedy” can often feel like someone has visited Earth, studied its people, and is reporting on all our flaws. At other times, it can be deeply introspective with the songwriter digging into his own flaws and delusions of grandeur. It can also point a finger at religion, pop-culture, and human interaction. Taken together, it is a brave album constructed like nothing I have heard before with songs unafraid of the 10-minute mark and some barely eclipsing two. As a whole collection, it forces you to listen intently and wrestle with the expressed opinion. You will not agree with everything Father John Misty has to say, but hopefully, you can celebrate the bravery to do so.

Musical Thesis: Kendrick Lamar “To Pimp a Butterfly”

By my own admission, I do not dip my toes into hip-hop waters often. I was raised on rock and roll and have never strayed far. When I venture into this ocean of music, I do so because I have heard something profound and revelatory. Coming across of Kendrick Lamar was such an experience for me. To digest “To Pimp a Butterfly” is to sit with lyrics that are powerfully honest and introspective. In each line, there was an experience unknown to me that bled with a level of authenticity I did not expect to find in a rap album. After several cycles through the album, I felt as if I had been through an experience and found myself hungry to decipher each line. In the end, no matter the genre, I think this is the rabbit hole good music should take you down.

Musical Thesis: Beach House “B-Sides & Rarities”

I own several Beach House albums. As I write this, I am finding it impossible to recite a single lyric written by this band. In my mind, this group of musicians does something transcendental with their music. The lyrics and the instrumentation are wrapped so tightly together that to try and unwrap them would mean the whole thing would fall apart. Instead of losing its weight, we get music that is so melodic and engaging that lyrics do not really matter. What matters is the final product. On this collection, we get to hear music that did not make the cut. In each song, I learned a little more about the band and their creative process. Still, I walked away with the same feeling. With everything they create, I am moved beyond belief and this collection is no different.

Musical Thesis: Car Seat Headrest “Teens of Denial”

As the first few notes on “Teens of Denial” fill the room, you have a sense of the direction this album will take. Consumed with relatable angst, you intimately know all 12 songs on this album before hearing them. You know them because you have lived them. Even when you did not possess the emotional depth to describe how you were filling, you found an outlet in these songs. They do what only art can do. You will leave this album more than fine with the emotions expressed. The words, lyrics, and song structure are not yours, but the aim is true, and it is yours.

The War on Drugs “Slave Ambient”

How an album receives its title can be a mystery to most fans. With The War on Drugs and their album, “Slave Ambient,” there is no doubt at all. In fact, from beginning to end, it holds true to its title with rock sounds on the verge of ambient noise. At times, it easy to miss the lyrics. Instead, you might find yourself lost in the meditative structure of each song. With the albums that follow this one, this sound will be coupled with incredibly strong and challenging lyrics. It is in these entries that this band becomes a force to be reckoned with in modern rock. Yet, it is this album that must be understood, if you want a chance of grasping what comes next.

“Crack-Up” by Fleet Foxes

“Crack-Up,” the third album from Seattle-based Fleet Foxes, can feel like a long conversation with songs that seemingly flow from one to the other. In that conversation, we begin to uncover a haunting examination of the fragility of life. Tomorrow, all of our relationships, all of our work, all of our effort, can be gone in an instant. This should not keep us from living. Instead, it should give us purpose and force us to squeeze every drop of juice from the time we do have. If we do, we might find ourselves on our deathbed guilty of a life well-lived.

 Be good to each other,

Nathan 

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