You kinda already know what you are getting yourself into when a band’s name is Elvis Depressedly but despite the clever juxtaposition and recording some of the bleakest, depressive indie music for the better part of a decade, New Alhambra isn’t a depressing album. In fact, in just a few minutes, singer song writer Mat Cothran proclaims “No more sad songs, no pain, no separation”. Could this mean that he’s done with writing and recording mopey indie poems for the manic depressed? Well not exactly, but it’s a good start.
If you’ve listened to previous Cothran recordings, one thing you will notice right off the bat with New Alhambra is the slick production. There is still plenty of the clumsy acoustic guitar strumming, nauseating chorusing effects, and whimsical samples, but now it’s all under a fine line of digital production. Drum and rhythm machines keep everything together, guitars are tuned, and there is even some beautiful instrumentation with a few reversed guitar solos and synthetic string arrangements. Even the samples of televangelist seem to serve the purpose of the narrative instead of being there for the sake of being pretentious or just background noise.
Speaking of narrative, there seems to be a theme of rebirth present through New Alhambra. Cothran brings up biblical things more than a couple times and even with nihilistic wit, there seems to be a spiritual growth happening within in Cothran, or at the very least, he is trying to get over the dark areas in his life. There is plenty of medium tempo melancholy to be had, but there is a certain glimmer of hope that briefly makes it’s presence known in just about every track. “Bruises (amethysts)” is arguably the closest he has ever come to crafting a gentle pop song. Maybe that’s why it’s my favorite track on the record? New Alhambra‘s narrative is seen of the perspective of someone who has been deeply depressed for a long time but trying to fake his way out of it. Behind every toothy smile is tears being held back. Behind every light hearted laugh is a wince of pain. This kind of honesty has always been an important part of Elvis Depressedly but on this go around, it’s being contorted into something a bit more ambitious: Hope.
Despite experimental instrumentation, slick production and ambitious themes, New Alhambra still manages to sound like a demo recorded at home in a make shift studio of Sony Acid and low budget condenser mics. Normally that would be part of the twisted charm of Cothran’s recording endeavors but with this new found grab for hope and apparent increase in budget, it sounds like we are listening to a treatment of an album that has been brought off the drawing board. Songs like “Big Break” end long before their respective groove takes them above the demo phase. There are plenty of ideas here that go completely under explored. “New Heaven, New Earth” starts out sounding like Paul McCartney doing a cover of Beck’s Euphoria Morning album, but ends so abruptly that I kept checking to see if I had accidentally flipped to the next track. It’s a shame too because there is a lot of promise here that never really gets it’s fair chance to come into it’s own. Had these songs been developed a bit more, there could have been an instant classic album here. Instead we get a unique album that is by no means half baked, but just a little on the lean side. It’s a step in an interesting direction for Cothran and co. and makes me wonder where Elvis Depressedly will go from here.
Rating: 3.5/5