Sorry it took so long to post this, I had to get my car fixed right after. Alright, so I completed m

Sorry it took so long to post this, I had to get my car fixed right after. Alright, so I completed my first listen. I’ve never listened to an album in a cemetery before, so it was a cool experience. There’s also quite a bit of palm trees in this grave yard, so it fit the California vibe some of the songs on the album posses. I’m not going to talk about every individual track just yet because not everything has been digested, so I’m only going to discuss the major highlights for me.Note: this may contain spoilers of the album (for those of you who may not have listened to it yet). Anyways, let’s get this started! After holding off from listening to the first 3 singles, it was so relieving to hear those again. “No Room In Frame” almost made me cry. I really felt “The Ghosts of Beverly Drive” during my first listen too. This single kind of caught me off guard at first but started to grow on me, and it’s even better in context; it’s amazing and works so well in the flow of the record.Now because I had heard the first 3 songs, the album really began with “Little Wanderer” for me. So, let’s talk about the highlights for the songs I have only heard for the first time a few hours ago. “Hold No Guns” was a true highlight! The melancholy guitar and chord progression, and Ben’s sultry voice just all make it such a magnificent note on the album. “Good Help…” has a really great groove to it as well. A lot of the songs on this album are kind of “middle-of-the-road jams” and I really like that about it. I feel like Kintsugi is a perfect album to listen to while on the road during a summer road trip. “Binary Sea” was the perfect album closer! I’m glad they saved the piano song for last. The chord progression is lovely and it’s a really well produced song. It closes the album off and left me not knowing how to feel, which I think is a good thing, like the emotion is overwhelming to the point that it makes me speechless. “Hold No Guns” and “Binary Sea” are such lovely summer rain songs too. I can’t wait to listen to them while watching the rain fall. Both also made me tear up slightly.Now, remember when Ben said Codes and Keys was a more balanced record in regards to happy and sad songs? I felt that at first, but now I see that Codes and Keys has a lot of darkness on it, even on the “happy songs.” Like why in a sweet song like “Monday Morning” are the vultures surrounding in the chorus? Now, Ben said he thinks Kintsugi feels balanced, and I think I agree with him more here. It’s a very bittersweet album. It’s also a really different beast than their other records, and mainly in the musical sense. But as for my first listen, I think bittersweet is the best way to sum it up.Now, here are some things about the album that are negatives to me:1.) I’m sad that there are no dovetails on this album, no songs that fade into each other - there’s no “Tiny Vessels” that expands into “Transatlanticism.” This is the first Death Cab album in 14 years (since The Photo Album) to not have dovetails. It’s a weird thing to expect from a band but it’s become such a staple on Death Cab records, I was just surprised and disappointed to not hear any. In an attempt to justify this, I think the reason why there are none is probably because of the producer change. Dovetails are maybe more Chris Walla’s style and not Rich Costey’s style. I’m not entirely sure why they’re not on this album, but the producer change seems to be the most logical conclusion. 2.) “Hold No Guns” is a great acoustic note on the album but the following song “Everything’s A Ceiling” is really synth-driven and contrasts the previous song so much that it breaks the flow, it doesn’t fit. HOWEVER, Ben Folds Five (and Ben Folds in general) is one of my favorite bands/artists, and Ben Folds Five’s wonderful album, Whatever And Ever Amen, constantly breaks the flow. There’s the super depressing song “Brick” which is juxtaposed by the screams and shouting of “FUCK YOU TOO” in the song that follows it, “Song for the Dumped.” That threw me off so much the first few times I listened to it, but the juxtaposition has grown on me and now I enjoy it, it flows in its own strange little way…so maybe that will happen with “Hold No Guns” and “Everything’s A Ceiling.”Anyway, it’s a great album. I’m avoiding solid opinions for now because I’ve only heard it once. I’ll update you as my opinions begin to solidify. I have a listening party for Kintsugi with some friends in a few hours so I’ll post about that as well. Also, I’ll open up my submissions soon so you all can share your thoughts too.Well happy release day, everyone! We did it!(The photo above was taken by me with a film camera on a different day, but in the same cemetery I listened to Kinstugi in). - Sam (You-Are-The-Sound-Of-Settling) -- source link

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