Review Summary: The quintessential night album.
You might as well wait until the sun goes completely under the horizon because
Different Stars is the quintessential night album. The effect night has on the human experience is profound and unmistakable; the sense of loneliness and despair is heightened, the world is cooler and more bare, and there's a general feeling that this is how to truly appreciate life, in its darkest and most real. The night is for lovers, losers, dreamers, for that drive on the highway where there's only a few cars on the road and the world is your adventure. This is where Tresspassers Williams' shoegaze influenced indie opus
Different Stars shines; as a gateway into the twilight, a bridge to gap our little lives down here and the stratosphere above. It's a record for broken hearts and mended hopes as Anna-Lynne Williams' ethereal, dreamy voice carries you away into the heavens over breathtaking acoustic chord progressions and wonderfully constructed songs. Prepare to sway, to weep, to remember, to feel.
While she isn't the most viruostic, ambitious, or powerful voice in music, Williams can transport you at the drop of a hat into the world of
Different Stars. Her voice is dripping with longing and a calm passion that sends shivers down your spine at least a few times throughout the album's relatively long play time. She displays a wonderful knack for lyricism that gets down to the specifics of love and hurting and is all the more wonderous for her delivery; regardless of the tempo of the songs, her voice is brooding and slow, making sure she envelops every inch of the listener's attention. She simultaneously seems like she could make an entire auditorium audience listen in awe and be an accompanying friend on a long walk home. As the album starts off with an incredibly effective guitar bend in the background of the lovely acoustic strumming in "Lie In The Sound", Williams tenderly sings
"I love you more than I should / so much more that is good for me / more than is good" which gives a great barometer of how
Different Stars plays out as a whole.
"Oh my sheet is so thin / so I say I can't sleep because / it's so very cold" says all you need to know about how beautiful this album is right off the bat. It's these simple little one or two-liners that will fill the notebooks of any aspiring writer that show how simple yet penetrating Williams is a lyricist.
Though her musical attributes don't stop there as she is more than competent on the acoustic guitar. Backed by Matt Brown's dreary use of the electric guitar and keyboards, the dual effect of the musicians creates enough sound for a 5 piece band. Whether it's the delay-heavy and dreary title track or the breezy night-on-the-beach picture that "Alone" resonates, Trespassers William move along confidently and wonderfully. As great as the album is, however, nothing prepares you for the emotional toll "What Could I Say" packs for the listener. It's an astounding display of singer-songwriting, affectionate lyrics, and quite frankly one of the most passionate vocal melodies you'll ever hear. I mean, c'mon, we've
all been here:
"What could I say / to touch beneath your clothes / when I say I need you here / you'd say how could I not know / why am I so tired / exhausted in my love / water in my eyes / why am I not enough".
Go be in love. Go dive into the ocean at midnight or take a lonely drive on the side of a mountain underneath the sparkle of the universe. Go live. Go embrace your emotions and your passion. Go be alive. Go stare out the window of your flight home into the great sky. Go
feel something. Just be sure to take
Different Stars along for the ride. 5/5
I told you everything I knew / I tore my pockets out and gave them all to you / you hold my throat like a violin / I never want to kiss again"
