All Smiles Embarks on a Less Personal Venture
Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go lets go of first attempt with great success.
All Smiles
Oh For The Getting and Not Letting Go
Released on Jun 30, 2009
All Smiles’ Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go reflects an attempt by songsmith Jim Fairchild to expand beyond the bedroom pop of his 2007 debut, Ten Readings of a Warning. A fairly subdued affair, Ten Readings was comprised mostly of piano- and acoustic guitar-driven introspection, its intimate atmosphere contextualizing Fairchild’s musings on life and love. It was a record lending itself to a particularly voyeuristic examination of the songwriter’s psyche (or at least the psyche submitted by the songwriter for examination). More than anything it seemed personal, created more to satisfy personal satisfaction or compulsion rather than public consumption. Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go steps away from Ten Readings’ intimacy, the piano balladry and intimate musings shelved in favor of poppier hooks and a more open sound.
Fairchild generally succeeds in making this transition, comfortably adding instrumental depth to pristine and surprisingly catchy melodies. “I Was Never the One” and album closer “It Never Saves Me” seem the biggest departures from Ten Readings, unabashedly hooky pop gems that could never be termed “subdued”. And though the rest of the album offers less dramatic shifts in tone and feel, there are enough subtle (and usually welcome) additions to give Oh For the Getting… a unique sonic identity. A reverb-soaked snare drum on “Brother, I Know My Way”, for example, changes the song’s atmosphere entirely, giving Fairchild’s otherwise minimalist melody room to breathe, winding in and out of a few ethereal choral “oohs”.
It doesn’t seem a terrible stretch to credit a sizable piece of All Smiles’ sonic evolution to the influence of Brian Deck, who, along with mixing Oh For the Getting…, also produced a similarly sound-stretching series of albums by Iron & Wine. Like the Deck-produced Our Endless Numbered Days, Oh For the Getting… adds new textures to the artist’s established sonic palette, pulling Fairchild out of a minimalist and potentially limiting niche and into more diverse – and possibly more accessible – musical territories.
Whatever the inspiration, All Smiles’ sophomore album is undoubtedly a positive step forward, the successful stretching of Fairchild’s creative abilities, as well as one last refreshing dip into sweetly melodic pop before diving headfirst into the messy, muttering, schizophrenic rock of Modest Mouse. What kind of music might come of Fairchild spending his summer and fall playing the part of Johnny Marr one can only guess, but here’s hoping we find out sooner rather than later.
High Point
I’ve been humming “I Was Never the One” for days.
Low Point
I love the song, but “It never Saves Me” briefly made me think of Saves the Day. I didn’t appreciate that.
Posted by David Sitrick on Jul 23, 2009 @ 6:30 am
