Broken Bells’ sophomore album “After The Disco,” released Tuesday, shows that side-projects should be revisited to ensure they don’t lose their edge.
The band is a collaboration between lead singer of The Shins, James Mercer, and producer Danger Mouse, who is best known for his work with Cee Lo Green and their hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley.
For this project, two very different styles of music collide. With Mercer as lead vocalist, “After the Disco” is like listening to music from The Shins, but in a spaced-out, parallel universe.
“After the Disco” is a follow-up to Broken Bells’ self-titled release from 2010, so fans’ expectations were high after being gone for so long.
The album explores one’s experience in coping with loss. The first song, “A Perfect World,” picks up where the last album left off.
“I’ve got nothing left/ It’s kind of wonderful/ Cause there’s nothing they can take away.”
As depressing as the lyrics may sound, most of the album is full of dark lyricism paired with upbeat and sometimes dance-worthy music.
It is one of the few songs on the album that sounds similar to favorites like “Trap Doors” and “October”.
The producer Danger Mouse gained fame early in his career with “The Grey Album,” a wonderful mash-up of The Beatles’ “The White Album” and Jay-Z’s “The Black Album.”
“After the Disco,” however, is not as influenced by hip-hop as Broken Bells’ self-titled debut album.
Staying in line with the album’s title, Mercer’s high-pitched vocals sound similar to a long-lost disco track. Unlike the diminished genre, however, it is not overwhelming and only used in certain songs like the title track and “Leave It Alone.”
It’s a bit quirky and maybe even a little cliche, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
One of the benefits of side-projects is that you can really tell they had fun making the album and experimenting not only with sounds and instrumentation, but also with Mercer’s voice and lyrics.
The overall flow of the album is better this time around. It’s more concise, even though its most memorable tracks are at the beginning and end of the album.
The beat and cynical lyrics begin to slow down during the middle of the album beginning with track, “The Changing Lights,” and then the tempo picks back up after the song, “Lazy Wonderland”.
One of the best tracks, “Angel and the Fool,” has a subtle hip-hop drum beat intro, layered beneath the entire song is a faint and distinct whistled melody. It features haunting lyrics like, “Balancing the weight of a pill on the tongue/ Look in her eyes/ Cold and lonely I don’t know why,” which make the song dreamlike but enjoyable.
This is definitely one of those albums that will grow on you over time. There are more than enough catchy lyrics, synthesizer beats and hooks that will demand replays.