Don't Be Scared, Frightened Rabbit Returns With a Winner
Scots pick up where last album left off, finding cohesion, a wider audience.
Frightened Rabbit
The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Released on Mar 09, 2010
On their 2008 breakthrough sophomore release The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit found a panoramic quality in the depths of personal crisis. A large part of what made Organ Fight so effective was bandleader and principal songwriter Scott Hutchison’s willingness to expose his struggles and insecurities to the listener. Organ Fight was audacious and surprisingly effective in its use of the band’s “big” sound as a backdrop for songs about one person’s loneliness and feelings of insignificance, and Hutchison’s naked expression of the fears and worries shared by so many of us was simultaneously captivating and endearing. While the band’s excellent new LP, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, maintains the widescreen appeal of Organ Fight, its slightly less personal approach lacks a bit of the visceral punch that characterizes the band’s prior releases.
This is not necessarily a negative for the record. Hutchison and co.’s scaling-back of the rawness of Organ Fight and the band’s 2006 debut Sing The Greys feels like a natural step in the progression of the band as it finds a broader audience. Bigger themes than, in Hutchison’s words, “songs about girls,” abound on the album. Lead single “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” sees Hutchison exhorting himself to look past single-minded obsession – he cries that “she is there on the shoreline throwing stones at my back, so swim until you can’t see land…are you a man or a bag of sand?” In its call to move beyond self-centered struggles and embrace the unfamiliar, “Swim” serves as an interesting narrative of not only Hutchison’s personal development but of his trajectory as a songwriter. Calculated or not, the change in outlook from “sad sack” to “slighty less-sad sack” makes the band more accessible and will likely appeal to a larger cross-section of listeners.
A key to the success of the songs’ slightly different approach is that they retain their honesty and simplicity. The arrangements are anthemic, outsized rock, but are straightforward with tasteful embellishments that never distract. Hutchison’s now-familiar romantic misadventures are still on display, but rather than serving as documents of desperation embrace the themes of movement and of moving on that weave in and out of the album. Exuberant rocker “Nothing Like You” contains notes of uncertainty, but at its core is about the process of casting off old hang-ups: “This is a story and you’re not in it...here’s your shovel, there’s the ground.” Throughout Winter, Hutchison maintains a lyrical directness, but seems intent on convincing himself that detachment from the past is a necessary part of moving forward and growing up. When he tells an ex-lover that “there is nothing like someone new, and this girl…is nothing like you,” we feel the conflict in Hutchison’s acceptance of the current state of things, and the moment resonates.
The
band’s newfound road-warrior status (Frightened Rabbit embarked on
multiple world tours in support of Organ Fight) has resulted
in a powerfully cohesive instrumental template for the record. In particular, Winter is notable for its beefed-up low end. Bassist Billy Kennedy’s
steady and much more prominent pulse complements drummer and Hutchison
sibling Grant, adding to the bigness of feedback-drenched opener “Things”
and standout sing-along “Skip the Youth.” The presence of multi-instrumentalist
and post-Organ Fight addition Andy Monaghan is also felt throughout
the album, particularly in the introduction of unfamiliar guitar textures
to the band’s sound and more fleshed-out backing vocals.
Late in the album, Hutchison provides assurances, presumably to both the listener and to himself, that “I’m not miserable now.” Do not be surprised if 2010 catapults these Scots to heights of popularity that belie their modest appearance and simple, emotional music. The straightforward approach of The Winter of Mixed Drinks makes the record an unassuming first listen, particularly for those familiar with the band’s ability to produce a record as emotionally devastating as Organ Fight. Hutchison’s lyricism, soaring instrumental backdrops, and a general feeling that we’re hearing something special make Winter stand out. The race for album of the year is on.
High Point
Hutchison’s gift as a songwriter has not been diminished with new lyrical themes, and the band has never sounded bigger or better.
Low Point
Not as emotionally powerful as prior releases by the band, and not a particularly challenging listen for those in search of something “different.”
Posted by Miguel Harvey on Mar 23, 2010 @ 6:30 am