Artist: Ezra Furman
Album: The Year Of No Returning
Bitrate: 235kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Bar/None Records
Genre: Rock
Size: 83.80 megs
PlayTime: 0h 47min 32sec total
Rip Date: 2013-11-13
Store Date: 2013-07-16
Track List:
--------
01. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde 3:47
02. American Soil 4:34
03. Lay In The Sun 3:54
04. Sinking Slow 4:27
05. That's When It Hit Me 3:25
06. Down 3:55
07. Cruel Cruel World 3:23
08. Are You Gonna Break My Heart? 2:53
09. Bad Man 4:55
10. Queen Of Hearts 4:57
11. Doomed Love Affair 2:57
12. Forty Days In Kansas 4:25
Release Notes:
--------
Seconds into The Year of No Returning, itÆs clear that Ezra Furman has left
behind his last album with backing band The Harpoons. While there are still a
few rollicking rock æn roll numbers like those on Mysterious Power, theyÆre
given idiosyncratic twists, and they sit in the midst of completely new
territory for the songwriter. He still has the same smirk, the same witty
lyrics, the same eye on the dark edges of the world, but the scope of the
instrumentals has expanded.
Album opener ôDr. Jekyll & Mr. Hydeö is a dead ringer for something off of Man
ManÆs most recent disc, the self-fear and rebellion of the lyrics and clarinets
counterpointing a wonderfully scenic, low guitar. The piano-driven ôSinking
Slowö hits notes of folksy richness that no Furman track yet can match, all
haunting overtones, stuttered strings, and lush vocal harmonies. ôBad Manö is a
pure ballad, musically, sitting Furman down at a piano, as he tries his hardest
to get his yowl to turn into a rasp, adoration and heartache simultaneously
leaking out of every joint.
FurmanÆs strongest quality, though, remains his ability to turn a clever phrase.
The story of a fight is fractured on ôThatÆs When It Hit Meö, as is the darkly
comic take on religion on ôAmerican Soilö (ôIÆm a Jew through and through, and
IÆm about to write you a bibleö). On the crushing ôThe Queen of Heartsö, he
spits out one of the best lines in recent music memory: ôThis is my heart, itÆs
a motor/it will search the world over/IÆm a search engine, see what I mean.ö
The Year of No Returning is another batch of the finest written tunes you could
ask for, though it just doesnÆt have the same unified world as the masterful
Mysterious Power. But to ask for a repeat of that performanceûto complain about
songs this goodûwould be a travesty. Furman has again proven his status as one
of the elite songwriters in the indie world.