Frightened Rabbit – Winter Of Mixed Drinks

January 23rd, 2010

Is it too early in the year to name one of my favourite records of 2010? I think it might be. But I also think that, come December when I’m compiling that list, Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ is certain to be in there. No question. Having lived with it for just over a week now, there’s no way it won’t be. I’m pretty sure that, like it’s predecessor, it’ll be one of the records that defines the year for me.

Which is reassuring if you remember what I wrote back in November. Thankfully my worries that this album wouldn’t live up to my expectations have proved to be unfounded. Nor have they stuck to a formula or over egged the anthemic qualities in search of an arena audience. This record shows no signs of laziness or compromise. If I were to throw any criticism at it, then it’s purely that, being honest, ‘The Winter Of mixed Drinks’ isn’t quite as good as ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’. Or at least it hasn’t affected me in such an all encompassing way. This record is a different beast. Another stage of development for the band. Where ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ cleaned up the rougher edges of their debut ‘Sing The Greys’, this record takes another step in progressing their sound. It is however a slight step away from the mainstream sound that they could easily have pursued. While the anthemic nature of their sound remains, it’s less obvious, their melancholy is no less celebrational.

This time around the songs seem to be built around layered textures rather than simple straight ahead indie. Sure there are plenty of catchy hummable songs but they’re not quite so prominent. For the most part the main hook of the songs comes from the vocal melodies or the band’s chorused voices, the music no longer necessarily carrying the same melody or tune. Sure the instruments are working together but in less conventional structures. At first, some appear quite separate, each element only coming together to create a whole as they become more familiar. The drums aren’t simply used to hold the songs together with regular beats nor as mere rhythm. They’re played sparingly. Cleverly. As though a lead instrument or when a dramatic level of depth is needed. Guitars are textured, affected and layered, rather than simply ripping riffs and chords. There are simple piano lines here and there. Smatterings of emotive strings tying the songs together. All these elements weaving together to create a rich album that is familiar in style, yet refreshingly complex. Songs that demand you listen to them again and again in order to hear everything that is going on.

Lyrically the album comes across a slightly less heart wrenching but no less personal. Where the open dissection of a break-up was the fire fuelling its predecessor, here the main theme seems to be one of escaping or moving on and the positives and negatives of doing that. From an oscillating effect heavy guitar, album opener ‘Things’ talks of leaving behind the material possessions that falsely suggest a full life. “The evidence of human existence … they hardly show that I have lived”, as Scott Hutchison puts it. ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ and it’s reprise ‘Man/Bag Of Sand’ question his courage and resolve as a man. ‘Not Miserable’ delivers honest reflection on escaping depression but knowing that “the dark can return with the flick of a switch”. And despite all the talk of moving on from the break up, ‘Nothing Like You’ suggests she’s still, in part, on his mind.

With the numerous references to coffins, cancer and death, it’s safe to say that ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ is far from a barrel of laughs. It is however a great record. In parts beautifully delicate and others rousingly fast, it’s accomplished, involving, intimate, understated and emotional. A record that cements Frightened Rabbit position as one of the best bands around.

Filed Under Album Reviews, Music