Review Summary: Deep and personable, it hits uncomfortable close to home and softly demands attention.
Oh
Down The River Of Golden Dreams, I feel sorry for you. Left alone, without a review among a discography boasting several per album. Maybe it's because you're so hard to define. Of all of them you're the best, you know, but don't confuse this statement with pity. It's not. It just has to be said. You mark the perfect moment in a transition phase between the focus on instrumentality and lyrical excellence, if we're going to jump straight into the gist of it.
But let's not. Let's say instead that you deal in
charm. The result of so many variables that it's almost impossible to measure. Could it be from the warmth brought by the subtle use of an organ? Or maybe from the dream-like exterior or even the fact that Sheff's voice only
just stretches to
that note? Wherever it comes from you've got it in buckets. In the end, it's humanity that flows in your veins. You're caught up in tales and imaginings, with a title like that... but I know you. God, do I know you. You mask your true intentions from me as if you think you can fool me into thinking that you're only preoccupied with things that never happened, that don't matter! The undercurrent of deep, dark depression is not something that should have surprised me, considering the artist, but never has it been so connected as it has with you. Even your faster tracks carry with them the all-too-familiar tint of desperation and anguish.
But we should slow down, lest we get carried away with ourselves. You are just a collection of notes, after all. Purely artificial, yet becoming biological on your arrival. Oh, what does it matter anyway? An overall theme made of patched pieces of interconnecting stories - further compiled by threads of lyrical sleight-of-hand so finely woven together... you made it so easy for me to fall in love with you. Your instrumental efforts didn't go unnoticed either, don't worry, that mandolin solo in
Yellow had me obsessed for days.
You do have your flaws, but then again don't we all? You play to your strengths, though, and somehow you manage to make the most out of them. The somewhat shaky singing, for instance, adds to the charm and makes the message a lot more relatable. The great musicianship which is often pushed to the background could be seen as an issue, but it makes it understated and allows for more exploration on inevitable repeated listens. And we both know how many of them there have been.
It took me a while to learn to accept and, eventually, love you,
Golden Dreams. (May I call you that?) At first I only found joy in the bookends, but slowly, gradually, your multiple perspectives and soft tones intrigued me enough to delve deeper. I could never have hoped for a more rewarding endeavour, and my time with you only ever gets better.
Will you marry me?
