Review Summary: A solid album that suffers from its length and repetition of ideas.
This is Ace Ender's (first) solo project. He was the singer in the now-defunct emotional pop punk band The Early November, who in my mind were always one of the better bands of that type. Listeners of The Early November will recall how on their final album, split into three, the second disc displayed the more whimsical, acoustic, and overall gentler side of the band compared to the first discs straight up rock. Well, to put it simply, this is in the same vein as that second disc, although I'm really unsure how the two compare.
This album makes use of a lot of strings, using them to build atmosphere, whether through traditional use, such as on "So I Finally Decided To Give Myself a Reason" or the tension building, slightly panicked effect on "Whispering Actually", a track where Ace's desperate vocals combine with the strings to produce an emotionally charged standout track.
"The Best Happiness Money Can Buy" is the type of track that literally could have been lifted of The Early November's final album, even "rocking out" in it's upbeat tempo and sing along vocals. Reminds me of the opening to some teen drama on TV. Not a bad thing, as it's a good song and probably the most conventional on here. Too often though, the album falls into mediocrity, not made any better by the fact that it's a long album - 15 tracks and nearly an hour long. Tracks like "An Oak Tree...", whilst good songs, even catchy somewhat, are too common, and are interchangeable. The group vocals in "But When The Little Fellow....." (Seriously, some of the song titles are dumb) are literally the only thing distinguishing it from any of the other standard pretty acoustic guitar + Ace telling a story formula songs. They're not bad songs, don't get me wrong, and that's why I'm not rating this album lowly. It's just this could have been a better album if he restricted the number of these songs, and maybe shortened it down to ten or eleven tracks instead.
"Untitled 8" is a standout track, the synth/organ thing providing the intro to the first track on the album that uses electric guitar (I think). The short burst of rock then gives way back to the calming synth sound, before returning to provide the backdrop for a very Early November like chorus. "Untitled 9" and the slightly better "The Kindler Burns2 continue the album's status quo, whereas "The End of the Background Noise" is aptly named. Whilst still playing up the more delicate side of Ace Ender's songwriting, the song is driven by the drum beat and relaxing, "lazy" bassline for a good portion, a really good track that manages to break away from both Ace Ender's main style and the sound of The Early November. Although the song does end with the standard rock procedure, the fact that's it's used as a climax of the song makes it work in an altogether different way.” I Know the Sum..." continues the trend of the better song being those that don't suppress the more traditional rock stylings that are clearly an influence on Ace Enders, whilst the final track, "Saloy", is very much like previous highlight "The Best Happiness Money Can Buy" in its' sing along style and upbeat acoustic bounce.
Although I respect the fact that a solo project is pointless if you're just going to do the exact same thing as your main band, I can't help but feel the best moments on here are the songs that would've fit The Early November perfectly. That's not to say that the other songs are bad, but they're very similar. Overall, it's a good album, but I can't help but feel that the acoustic type songs worked well with The Early November because they were the exception as opposed to the rule.
