First off, an obligatory step for those who review David Bazan’s work: “I’m so creative with my reviews of what other people do. How satisfying that is for me.” Of course I’m not selling any advertising, so I suppose I am safe.
David Bazan has been keeping his fans waiting for a long time. After the release of Achilles Heel in 2004 and the retirement of the Pedro the Lion moniker, there have been some good releases, but no full-length record of David Bazan. First we had the Headphones album, which was excellent, but was ultimately a one-shot. Then the E.P. Fewer Moving Parts, which satiated audiences with five new songs (plus acoustic demos of each). At a show in November of 2007, Bazan promised a new record in the spring of 2008, but that never materialized. American Flags was released as a single, but still nothing until September 1, 2009, the release date for his new full-length Curse Your Branches.
The material on this album will be familiar to anyone who has listened to the Grey Eagle recording or attended one of Bazan’s recent shows. It is interesting to note how the songs have changed over time: sometimes a few words changed; sometimes entire verses scrapped and replaced. The other difference is that while Bazan performs “alone at the microphone” on tour, these recordings are well-produced with a full band.
Curse Your Branches is “thematically pretty tight,” as Bazan puts it. It is a statement of the finality of his journey from Christianity to agnosticism. Every song touches on this theme in one way or another. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil figures into the lyrics directly at least twice, along with original sin. Fear of damnation is another common feature. And in the final song “In Stitches,” Bazan ironically addresses God directly, a coda to his song “Letter from a Concerned Follower.” And the eponymous track “Curse Your Branches” is the best on the album, which incorporates several themes to examine “the root of [his] confusion.” Any Christian will find this album challenging to listen to, and it is definitely not for everyone. But in spite of the subject matter, I find I really enjoy how Bazan has expressed his thoughts. We are now on opposite sides of the fence, but that has not diminished my affection for his music and his honesty in making it.
A major difference in this new album as opposed to previous efforts is that Bazan is perfectly clear about his intentions. While past concept albums might have been lyrically “contrived” (as Bazan puts it, I disagree), the autobiographical form of this record makes the lyrics obtuse in places. That is my only real complaint with Curse Your Branches.
Bazan’s story is worth listening to, and it is expressed beautifully in his music. I anticipate that now that Bazan has all of this off his chest he will move on to other topics. I anxiously await his new work, but not before I have time to enjoy Curse Your Branches.
