With the help of Trammell and a clutch of guest drummers, Lange shows that even his disco-inflected songs can still be tactile and rewarding in headphones-albeit some more than others. The prominent drumming of Jason Trammell has a lot to do with that: He’s a consistent presence, always drawing attention but never loud, manipulating his hi-hat and muted snare to keep it interesting. Lange has always had a delicate touch, but the general breeziness here is different. Lange may not have felt as carefree as he sounds on these 15 chilled-out tracks, but they seem like signposts, like a target state of mind more than a revealing self-portrait. The aesthetics are much more even: steady, mellow, comforting. It doesn’t tell as complex of a story, but you’re more than happy to hang out in the sun for a while and enjoy his company. If This Is How You Smile was the complete house tour of Lange’s psyche, Far In is more like an afternoon barbeque in the backyard. His priority today seems to be, to quote his first words on Far In, “Wake up tomorrow.” On his new double album, Far In, he doesn’t sound quite so concerned with the artistic “step forward” as with healthier steps. A long tour behind the album broke him down-just in time for a pandemic, his 40th birthday, and a move to North Carolina after a decade and a half in Brooklyn. But then there are the years where self-actualization is secondary to simply remaining alive and well, and these times found Lange shortly after releasing This Is How You Smile.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |