“Have I Always Loved You?” by Copeland, Sunday, December 26, 2021
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In an interview with New Noise, Copeland's guitarist Bryan Laurenson talks about the circumstances why the band broke up in 2010. The band feared the fanbase was drying up. They were sick of touring, but after some time away, working with other projects, Copeland came back together to record 2014's Ixora. The four years away gave Copeland fans one of the best records the band has released. Building on the layered, compositional ballads from You Are My Sunshine, Copeland masterfully combines lush arrangements of guitars, pianos, odd drum beats, synths, strings, and horns with some of the most concrete love songs the band has ever released.
THE WHITEST DRESS I KNOW. Named after a subtropical flowering plant common in the band's home state of Florida (pictured to the left), Ixora opens calmly with the cold track "Have I Always Loved You," and the band builds a momentum that easily draws listeners along until the album's early emotional climax, "Erase," which for me, is where a casual listen of Ixora ends. The rest of the album is good, too, but not overly catchy as are the first four tracks. After "Erase," "Ordinary" slows the pace. Tracks like "Lavender" and "Like a Lie" pick it back up and are thought-provoking. The album's closing tracks feature beautiful instrumentation. But after "Erase," I'm usually emotionally spent. The first three songs on the record are love songs. I've talked about why love songs are so difficult to get right when I was talking about the sort of bland Nick Jonas album opener for Spaceman, "Don't Give Up on Us." My argument about what makes a love song good is conflict, and a lack of conflict makes a song bland. Specific conflict is better. In "Have I Always Loved You," we have a storm outside and a feeling of safety with a loved one. In "Disjointed" we have a misunderstanding that a couple is working through that is compared to the waves pulling the two under, which is actually a positive metaphor for being submerged in another person. In "I Can Make You Feel Young Again" we have a beautiful song that Marsh says (and the music video depicts) is about a mermaid tempting and dragging a man to sea.
OUR CASTLE WILL BE HIGH ABOVE THEIR ARROWS. On an end-of-the-year vacation to Busan to get away from the stress of teaching and being in ministry, I retreated into this album. I was with my best friend, but I was processing information that I couldn't share with him. When I listened to Copeland's Ixora, I was myself, but when I was spending time with anyone else, I had to put on a façade. I had recently started dating men, but I was trying to keep it hidden from everyone I knew, especially my friends. While I worried about the implications of being found out as an exploited "missionary teacher" in Korea, my biggest fear was that my friends, particularly my best friend, would say something spiritually profound that would cast me out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So I kept everything to myself. On top of that feeling, the day before this trip had started, I had suffered a devastating revelation which ended with a profound feeling of loneliness. I turned to an archaic non-GPS-based dating website. I was in a desperate state, feeling that I was going to be forever alone. And in the middle of this sickness, I started started two conversations.
In the summer of 2003, a rock station in LA started playing an inside cut from The Ataris ' So Long, Astoria , an album built on the late '70s and early '80s nostalgia. The band's first single, " In This Diary " reached number 11 on the Modern Rock chart. They were set to release the second single, " My Reply ," but the accidental hit " The Boys of Summer " overshadowed anything the band would produce in their twenty-five-year career. A cover of Don Henley 's 1984 number 1 hit, The Ataris' punk-rock reworking took the single to number 20 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the Modern Rock chart, unable to beat Linkin Park 's " Faint ." Eighteen or thirty-seven summers later, "The Boys of Summer" remains a melancholy reminder that summer is over and that we all are getting older. I SAW A BLACK FLAG STICKER ON A CADILLAC. Written by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ' guitarist, Mike Campbell , ...
"I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I. Don't want a lot for Christmas." *struggles to change the radio dial amid gridlocked holiday traffic* "There's just one thing I need" *hurry up with my damn latte! I think I'm going to die. Why the hell is Starbucks playing Christmas music in mid-October?* "I don't care about the presents" *internal Elaine monologue 'I think I'm going to die in this department store. Ma'am, why must you spray the perfume so close to my face. I can't breathe! What if the earth begins to shake and we're stuck in here forever underneath mannequins and holiday shoppers and that damn Mariah Carey song stuck on repeat?'* "Underneath the Christmas tree" "No" *raising a strict finger to students who should be studying in the back* "Not before Thanksgiving." "I just want you for my own/ More than you could ever know." Every year, Christmas music gets earlier and earli...
It was Superbowl Sunday of 2005 when I bought Anberlin ’s Never Take Friendship Personal . It was the perfect album for high school. The band’s style took a turn on their sophomore album from a classic or '90s rock sound to a more emotional, mid-2000s sound. The band would redefine themselves with this album, becoming a lesser-known emo staple. Stephen Christian ’s vocals meeting Joseph Milligan ’s riffs, Deon Rexroat ’s heavy bass, and Nathan Young ’s reliance on the cymbals make this one of the band’s heaviest records. The band released two recordings of this song on two different albums and many fans debate which one is better. THIS WAS OVER BEFORE IT EVER BEGAN. The original version of "The Feel Good Drag" feels grungier and Stephen’s scream on the bridge was perfectly aligned with the musical trends of the day. The New Surrender version , renamed "Feel Good Drag," beefs up t he guitar intro, and the solo has a quite satisfying bend. However, having ...
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