When you've cultivated a reputation for creating vast works of conceptual artistry, the prospect of dialing back that ambition and releasing an album anchored in relative simplicity may leave fans wary that the band has lost some of its musical nerve. But in the case of Okkervil River, this newfound simplicity only hints at the creative viability which Sheff and Co. have developed from their earliest albums to their newest. And when I say simplicity, I mean the basic feeling that these songs evoke. While their previous releases took on the all-encompassing tasks which their daunting subject matter required, Okkervil River are also just as adept at the small, deceptively detailed personal narratives that have cropped up occassionally on some of their previous albums. These were mostly relegated to interstitial connectives and denouements. But with their latest record, Okkervil River allow the force of these simple narratives to achieve a grandour on par with any of their most theatric songs.
On I Am Very Far, Sheff builds these tracks as seperate pieces of a whole. There is a cohesion evident but these songs aim to function as seperate stories, joined by a musical connectiveness which is provided by the deliberate and intense performance of the band as it surges around Sheff's emotional vocals. Album opener "The Valley" allows Sheff the ability to visit his musical influences though the song and come to terms with what those artists mean to him and by proxy, us as listeners. The thumping drums hit harder than any Okkervil River song in recent memory and Sheff's evocative use of personal lyrics gives greater license with regard to his continued musical relevance. This idea that individual songs can hold as much power as a full conceptual record drives the band to its most creative and personal headspace in years. They roar through these songs filled with the ferocity of a band fully aware of its capabilities. Other tracks like "Show Yourself" and "Your Past Life As A Blast" provide evidence that Sheff has only just hit his stride, along with the band. That as great as their previous albums were---and they were phenomenal--, this band has much more in store for us. The fact that the closing track "The Rise" allows the band room to deconstruct the idea of what a closing track can be further suggests that the best is yet to come from them and that this ending track with its slowly frayed and unwinding movements hints at a deeper relationship that Okkervil River wishes to explore with the listener. Sheff has never been one to keep the listener at a distance. With past albums that embrace the listener as one of their own, Okkervil River now want us to take an active role in their lives as they have done for us.
Tracklisting:
01. The Valley (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Piratess
03. Rider
04. Lay of the Last Survivor
05. White Shadow Waltz
06. We Need a Myth
07. Hanging From a Hit
08. Show Yourself
09. Your Past Life as a Blast
10. Wake and Be Fine
11. The Rise
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