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The Atlantic
Manor: Failing by the Second
Where to start with this one? I guess Ill start by saying this is not music for the masses. Failing by the Second is not one of those albums that would catch everyone on the first listen; it just isnt that accessible. While this is not the perfect album for everyone, it is a dead-on ringer for a few. Rick Sells bleeds from his gut and creates smart, depressing music with his heart and head. The music itself is heartbreakingly gorgeous, but the vocals took a bit to warm up to; but it started making sense the more I listened to the full album. With his thin, shaky voice, he manages to reach inside you and bring that old feeling of loss and pain to the back of your throat. Even though you havent experienced exactly what he sings about, you can completely understand and commiserate with him as he throws himself out there. Sells describes this as his divorce album. So yes, it is quite emotional. As he came up with chord progressions and song ideas, he would map them out to this friend, Jorge, who would improv drum parts underneath. These sessions were recorded in Jorges spare bedroom as they were born, sustaining a fresh, creative, spur-of-the-moment current. The music is very minimal. Its sparse, droney, art-rock, created as an expressive outlet for Sells. He lays out sprawls of sonic washes, banged walls, punched and plucked guitars, lost strings and confused keys all held down by a steady drumbeat. By recruiting a chilling, John Cale-style minimalism/experimentation and by slowing down to the dreary pace of the Black Heart Procession, very dirge-esque qualities are handed down to the album. Dark, simple melodies overtop repeated, lengthy phrases roll the album along very nicely without allowing each track to grow too monotonous. To sum this up, it honestly took a second to get used to the album, but once I did, I found myself really appreciating it. Its a great example of an artist using his medium wisely, and hopefully effectively, to exorcise his demons and ease his nerves.
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