I am angry. Music critics everywhere are writing off Ben Gibbard's new solo album because it’s not sad
enough. He obviously went through a very high profile divorce, so they
expected him to put out a Hawthorne Heights album or something. Maybe he’s
happy. Maybe he hated her and is really happy about the divorce. Maybe he’s a
good songwriter with a supreme talent for storytelling, and he doesn't limit
himself to writing about one thing. Maybe the sadness isn't in the lyrics but
in the songs themselves.
Dear music critics: this album contains one of the saddest and greatest
lines I have ever heard in a song.
“It’s been a basement of a year, and all I want’s for you to
disappear.”
The first time I heard this song, it felt like a punch in
the gut. It’s not often that I relate to something so strongly that it hits me
like this line did. He takes a common, yet difficult to describe feeling and expresses it in a new and simple way. Anyway, music critics can suck it. This album is sad, and happy, and beautiful. His voice is as incredible as ever. Zach already
reviewed the album, and I pretty much agree with whatever he said.
