6. WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU BY THE AVALANCHES REVIEW

 WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU BY THE AVALANCHES REVIEW

Grief in all its colors

This album was never something I felt too strongly towards. It didn’t move me quite like Since I Left You did, and I admired the emphasis on plunderphonics on that album. But this one was more… I don’t even know what genre this is exactly; it’s everything. It's practically sprawling with life. One thread seems consistent throughout this album, though, and that’s grief.

LAYER 1: THE DIVINE CHORDS

The topic at hand is quite hefty, I think it’s best to talk about the album’s technical aspects first but even that is hefty. On second thought, it might even be easier to talk about the themes of grief on this album because at least that’s consistent. Unfortunately, I already typed the heading out and the word “chord” denotes a sonic aspect so we might as well talk about that. 

The amount of genres that this album taps into is unbelievable. It still has that plunderphonic element that I longed for but there’s a lot less of it and for good reason! Before you listen to this album, I want you to temper your expectations, not expect anything, and be ready for everything. What I’m about to do will contradict the previous sentence but I just want to illustrate the range of genres covered on this album by listing a few of the features; MGMT, Blood Orange, Johnny Marr, Vashti Bunyan, Denzel Curry, Kurt Vile and Rivers Cuomo. The craziest part is, that it works! By some miracle, almost all of these features add something to the listening experience (emphasis on almost).

LAYER 2: I’M THE WOKLER, BABY! LET’S TALK ABOUT PRONOUNS!

For a moment, I wondered why there were so many different features and then it hit me. Pro-tip from me; I analyze most forms of media the same way I analyze literature which may be ineffective but I don’t care, literature is what I know so that’s my reference point. Anyway, when a poem stumps you, break it up. Start with the title, move on to the imagery, focus on diction next (and use diction to find the tone, mood, and atmosphere), and tie it all together. To me, music is difficult to analyze the same way poetry is for some. I stuck with what I knew and looked at the title. 

We Will Always Love You 

That’s funny. Let’s apply another technique I use to analyze poetry. The last line in a poem or the lazy stanza is what the poet wants to leave with you. If we look at the first song, it ends with a voice saying “I will always love you” and that’s what I’m looking for! ‘We’ implies some sort of community, there’s togetherness and collaboration. This album wants to make it clear that you the listener are NOT alone. That sounds corny, I apologize. I promise I’m going somewhere. 

LAYER 3: MUSIC MAKES ME HIGH

I had this crazy teacher and I remember, for some reason, he was talking about drugs and he said something like “Drugs? You don’t need any of that! Here, let me show you what gets me high…” and he pointed to his mounted guitar, implying that music gets him high which is corny and this album has a song about that. Initially, I thought it was a bland, corny song making yet another comparison between music and drugs but I may have misjudged it.

I think it speaks to the power of music which is not as corny as I thought it was and music is a big theme in this album. The way that music and community intertwine is interesting too. Music is a collaborative effort, especially for The Avalanches, this album for example as well as their plunderphonics music is built by sampling other songs. Now, I’m not a NARC, I make plunderphonics music so I know that sampling usually comes from a place of respect and when this album speaks to the power of music it is also speaking to the power of collaboration in music. 

LAYER 4: THE SKY IS BLUE… NO, RED… NO, GOLD… NO, PU-

This album mentions color a lot. Black, red, pink, gold, and for all you science fiends screaming about how black isn’t really a color, I’ve got you, there are also mentions of light, there’s a song called Reflecting Light and I’d say it’s important in this discussion. First though, let’s talk about the colors, different artists on this album mention different colors, at one point someone calls the sky pink, someone else says it’s gold, and then in the next track, it’s all black. 

Now, this one’s for you science nerds; Always Black is a sad song, it’s so raw and emotional in delivery and the speaker expresses exhaustion and says “Wake me up in the morning” because they’re tired of mourning. Now let’s go back to Reflecting Light. Anyone who knows anything about science would know that light has a dual nature, it is both a particle and a wave but also this song mentions reflection of light, light being bounced off of a surface. I mention all this because this album is much like a ray of light. First of all, it expresses a dual nature. The repeated lyrics across the album as a whole illustrate how two different people view the same thing. For one, the sky is pink and for another, it’s golden. The words ‘morning’ and ‘mourning’ are used as well. 

The duality on this album is an illusion. Think of this album more like a ray of light passing through a prism and the songs as the different rays you see on the other side of said prism. 

LAYER 5: MUSIC IS THE LIGHT

This is the final step in our analysis. Are you excited? I am. I have a pulled pork sandwich waiting for me after I finish this piece. This album bounces between genres, all these contributions from various artists, all these light rays emitting from the prism; it's all about grief. 

This album is about how everyone experiences grief differently but no matter how someone grieves, they are not alone I’m a cornball, and I’m gonna say it: the common thread connecting this album is love, love for whatever, and whoever is being mourned. The final song on this album is an anti-climax and I saw someone on RateYourMusic calling it pointless but, I’d disagree. 

The final track sounds like a really experimental Aphex Twin song, it has beeps and boops and static and then the same voice from the opening track speaks again, this time adding to their previous statement; “My voice is still gonna be here” but what’s the point? What are they leaving us with? Well, nothing, really. There is no grand statement on death or grief or loss. What is there to say? What is there to offer? Nothing but it’s a powerful nothing.

After showing you all these different ways that people grieve, who are they to tell you the listener how to grieve? That’s for you to figure out but it’s also for you to remember that you don’t need to do it alone, all anyone can really offer in the face of loss is some comfort, a gentle reminder that “my voice is still gonna be here” and “we will always love you”

EPILOGUE:

I had a whole other piece planned on romance or something but that got a bit too personal, yikes. I don’t want to go down that road just yet but for now, here’s a review of an album I really like. I want to do this more. It was a lot of fun! I can’t promise an album review next week but expect more of these either way. I didn’t do any research for this, I just professor Skye-ed it and hoped for the best! I hope you like this because I’m proud of it! Anyway, til next we meet!