Review Summary: Heaven here and now
Sometimes, an album comes along and catches
just the right lighting. As Spring warms and begins to transform into Summer, I’ve found that Tigers Jaw’s
Lost on You has just the right blend of indie-rock ardor and midwest emo luster to shimmer upon just about any setting. Last evening, I was driving with the windows down to ‘Primary Colors’ and got struck with a sense of emotional fulfillment I haven’t experienced since Jimmy Eat World was still making albums, and I immediately began mentally jotting down what I wanted to say about an album from a band that, until recently, wasn’t even on my radar.
Lost on You feels like a love letter to listeners like me – people whose minds seem to forever dwell in summer, from bare feet in the grass catching fireflies as a 90s kid to the endless night drives as a young adult trying to find his place in the world. If you also get swept up in these types of memories and emotions, then
Lost on You...well, won't be lost on you.
Part of the reason
Lost on You is able to achieve such an enviable atmosphere is due to the immaculate dual vocals of Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins, who are each talented enough to lead their own acts, but share duties in a series of gorgeous tradeoffs here. The aforementioned ‘Primary Colors’ is perhaps the best example of the two vocalists intertwined in flawless harmony, singing about feeling emotions in color: “Finite, the primary colors hit our eyes, and they can be anything / You are the pain of a phantom limb, I felt in blue and red.” When we’re hit with a majestic guitar solo midway, it’s immediately obvious
Lost on You is going to be an emotive force – and as the album progresses, it does not disappoint. The ramped up electric chords and playful, almost pop-punk pre-chorus of ‘Head is Like a Sinking Stone’ injects a youthful energy into the record while also reflecting on choices made with the wisdom of someone much older: “Shadows of the past darkening my doorway…Never know if I was following the right ones.” The TWIABP-esque ‘Anxious Blade’ sees Collins serenade us with her catchiest melody of the record – one whose soft glow masks the sense of unraveling control beneath: “Awake inside another dream / Falling far, losing teeth / I grip the wheel, gaining speed / Brakes faltering.” Woven into the fabric of each infectious verse and poignant solo is Tigers Jaw’s ability to express feelings of insecurity with the elegance of poetry, and that’s a trait that does not relent across the record’s runtime.
Although
Lost on You starts fast and strong, perhaps the best song on the album comes via ‘Baptized on a Redwood Drive’ – the album’s longest track and also one that feels like a central cornerstone. “I've been climbing up the mountain with no viewpoint at the end” is the lament of Ben Walsh – who delivers his strongest moment in a sea of Collins-led gems – and there’s this sense of futility born from a desire to do good but with an absence of observable results: “Change a life without a consequence / Send a message with no conduit.” The song sways to-and-fro, rocking on top of the gentle percussion and clashing cymbals that together provide a calming baseline which only occasionally swells up, as if to mirror Walsh’s passion. Another highlight that arrives later is ‘Roses + Thorns’, which like its namesake embodies both hope and sorrow. One of the cleverest lines harkens back to ‘Baptized on a Redwood Drive’, where Collins sings of a “valley with a mountain view”, alluding to the idea that sometimes in life, the clearest and most revelatory views come not when you’re on top of the world…but instead when you’ve hit rock bottom. As the guitars elevate their intensity and blend into Collins’ breezy vocals, ‘Roses + Thorns’ seems to lift us out of this depression with a message of kinship and unwavering love: “Heaven here and now, with your hand in mine no shadow of doubt / All that's mine is yours"..."What's a future unseen with my heart set on you? / Our feet left the ledge, so eager to dive / Falling fast like stars from the sky.” It’s the kind of slow-burning, made-for-mixtape romantic message that fans of emo and indie-rock will absolutely flock to.
Not a single one of
Lost on You’s eleven tracks feels incomplete or subpar – it’s all extremely purposeful and well-polished. As a result, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more consistently rewarding emo/indie record this early into the year. In fact, the timing of the release also feels very well thought-out, dropping right as we cross the threshold into (at least the American) warm months when these genres seem to have the strongest emotional resonance. If there’s a downfall here, it may be that the whole thing is a little
too consistent in its atmosphere and target aesthetic – to the point that many of these songs could be interchangeable – but that’s a comparatively minor nitpick on a release that generally sounds great across the board.
Lost on You does a fantastic job of embodying this scene’s classic traits in a way that feels authentic and true to themselves, even if it doesn’t need to take any bold risks to do so. It’s this year’s
summer in a bottle, and I’m here to embrace all of the warmth and comfort that glows from within.
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