Release Date: May 10, 2011
Jagjaguwar; 11 Tracks; CD, LP
Review by: Chad Hutchings
After a three year stretch, Okkervil River has finally put something fresh on store shelves.
The latest release from the Austin-based indie outfit clearly shows that the stretch between studio visits has been full of growth for Will Sheff and his group. Stemming from three years of leg-room and the countless influences of the front-man's many side collaborations, this growth has piled new layers onto the group's raw and simple sound, but the same heart still beats down deep. Okkervil River's new tricks are never at the expense of the sincerity that the group has always delivered.
Sadly, you might disagree if you've heard I Am Very Far's leading track. "The Valley" is where they stray most brutally, putting their own spin on the formulaic rock and roll song, but not quite honestly enough to keep the band's purist fans on the wagon. Luckily, while this might be the track that sticks in your head, it stands shadowed well beneath what the rest of the album offers up.
These offerings lie in how the tracks exist as islands, however, and not in the cohesion of the collection. While the songs are slightly linked, the album as a whole suffers from a certain stutter. "Lay of The Last Survivor", for one, isn't paced quite right to sit between "Rider" with its quick tempo and towering walls of sound, and "White Shadow Waltz" with its heavy, heady intensity. Then there's the soaring heights and gentle release formed by the pairing "We Need A Myth" and "Hanging From a Hit" that seem to perfectly wrap up the album, falling smack-dab in the middle of the of the series, just before the soulful "Show Yourself" - a track that stands on its own as a stunning piece, but does nothing to ease us back from the highs and lows we'd just reached.
But then again, these hiccups aren't unfathomable when you consider the aim of this album. While Okkervil River is best known for their work with concept albums, I Am Very Far is nothing of the sort; this latest release is a collection of songs much more independent of one another than anything the group's released in a very long time. But, alongside this change, each song is produced with a finer finish than anything the group has ever released.
The lyrics on the album, as well, are on a different plane, telling tales that are much less direct than those in previous releases; there's a certain fogginess to the content that leaves each idea littered around in moody little pieces, far more open-ended than the discourses that we've heard from Sheff et al in the past. All of these changes were, in fact, what Sheff intended during the writing process. "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go," he's said of the effort. "The idea was to not have any idea — to keep myself confused about what I was doing." And, from this confusion, Okkervil River has produced no shortage of genius in its piecemeal new work.
Tracks like "Your Past Life As A Blast" shine with just that brilliance. It's a rolling piece full of life and vibrance, all wrapped snugly around lyrics showing a signature darkness that Okkervil River never neglects. It makes us dance while we're grieving. Then we have "The Rider" and "Wake and Be Fine" showing the group's new side in its best light — a side of roaring rock orchestras polished by a matured production. There's the closing track "The Rise" that eases us down from the experience, with Sheff singing in harmony with himself while passionate piano work stops just short of shocking us out of the epilogue. There's a unique beauty in nearly every track.
Despite the disjointed feel of I Am Very Far, Okkervil River has offered up eleven tracks that are gems unto themselves (a fact all the more important as evolving media forms are forcing the industry to become song-over-album oriented). Rest assured that, while the act has shaken the confines of the concept album, they've stayed true to their work; I Am Very Far is a box of beautiful, boldly-colored puzzle pieces.
