Norfolk & Western categorizes the genre they belong to as "Smart Rock." Despite the ambiguous label, their music sure is pretty. They also liken themselves to their friends The Decembrists. While this statement is accurate in terms of sound and feel, Norfolk & Western should realize that they are 10 times more talented than their fellow Portland dwellers.
Fronted by duo Adam Selzer and Rachel Blumberg, this seven-piece ensemble creates a lush, orchestral, full-length album, The Unsung Colony, with every song possessing a layer of melody that the listener has not yet discovered. It features a plethora of instruments ranging from vibraphones to violas, mellotrons to mandolins. Banjos are used on most tracks, lending a settling of the old west feel without wandering too far into Appalachian blue grass. Yet with all of the multi-layering, bells and whistles, the majority of the songs are incredibly dreamy, almost trancelike. Think the Arcade Fire, but on sedatives.
It's rare to find a band that actually wrote an album collectively instead of compiling a bunch of songs that one member wrote. Though the band is clearly Adam Selzer's brainchild, every member of the cast collaborated on this album. The Unsung Colony flows like a dream, with various melodic themes and 3/4 rhythms picking up and fading away throughout the record. On the track "Arrangments Made," they are bold enough to incorporate sideshow circus music into their waltz intro, and their final track is a reprise of the first.
Lyrically, every song tells a different story with a different protagonist each time, all lending to an overarching Americana feel. The song "The New Rise of Labor" (the only upbeat song on the whole record) is told from the point of view of a Californian railroad worker in the 1840s. But aside from the storytelling, it's evident that Adam Selzer has a gift with words. "How to Reel In" initially appears to be about a runaway girl who meets another runaway boy who ends up abusing her, but within the two lines "She finally escaped with her son just as I had turned 3/ I met my old man when I made it back east," we realize that it's actually about the speaker's parents, even though he never says so outright.
While this may all seem sort of cheesy, much like their buddies The Decemberists, Norfolk & Western pulls everything off without a hitch. Instead of coming off as cornballs, this septet has created the perfect album for this month. Its bittersweet lyrics and melancholy melodies echo the mood of a crisp, overcast November day, whether you're watching dead leaves swirl on the street or holed up in your room under a blanket.
The Unsung Colony is mainly free of flaws, but one glaring one is that it is limited to its mood. While some people may enjoy listening to melancholy, slow music with frequency, I know that I cannot. You wouldn't want to put this on at a party unless you wanted everyone to go home and go to bed. You certainly couldn't dance or work out to it, and even studying may be challenging if you haven't downed a lot of coffee beforehand. But if you're crying alone in your room in the dark, going on a long walk or in the middle of breaking up with someone, Norfolk & Western is your ideal background music.
Grade: 4 out of 5
Norfolk & Western will be playing at Café Montmartre tonight at 8 p.m.
