J. Poet Gets It
Liked this review.
http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/02/04/am-future-songs-and-daughters/
AM
Future Sons & Daughters
Writer: J. Poet
There’s a Portuguese word that perfectly fits the music of AM: Saudade.
There’s no word in English that means exactly the same thing, but saudade is a feeling most romantic souls are aware of; an emotional state that can only be expressed by a long, unwieldy English definition. In English vernacular, you might say saudade is an aching desire to recapture a feeling that no longer exists, or probably never existed, a yearning for a better, happier, more content time—probably in the past, but possibly in a future everyone knows we may never attain. Bossa Nova, fado, and Cape Verdean mourna are all heavy with saudade, as is the music AM and his band on Future Sons & Daughters.
AM has touted his love of Brazilian music, and there is, in fact, an instrumental track on Future Sons & Daughters named Jorge Ben, after the Tropicalia guitarist, singer, and composer. But like all of the music on the album, “Jorge Ben” is anything but straightforward. There’s no samba, or bossa, or even Brazilian reggae there. It’s a Memphis soul groove halfway between soul and funk, accented by Jesse Nason’s sci-fi organ and AM’s guitar teasing out sounds that bounce between spaghetti Western twang and rhythmic R&B chord clusters. Tropicalia was inspired in part by American soul music, but that’s about the only connection between the title and the propulsive rhythm that AM and his band lay down. This oblique approach is evident on the album’s 10 songs as well. The tunes all inhabit a vague emotional space that’s suggested rather than spelled out. Take “It’s Been So Long”, a duet with the feathery voiced Angela Correa, for example. AM sings, “Who’s right, who’s wrong / It doesn’t matter, ” with a resigned tone that lets you know it matters very much, even as he struggles with his confused emotions. The reverb on his vocals adds a dark Serge Gainsbourg-ish feel to the track.
The melancholy of “Darker Days” suggests a hybrid of Philly soul and Motown, with AM’s falsetto adding a touch of blue-eyed soul to the chorus, while “When the Dust Settles” floats through a haze of late ’60s psychedelia. The song starts quietly, with voice and organ creating a delicious tension, and then the chorus kicks in with clanging electric guitar. After the bridge, the guitar grows to fill an immense sonic space and AM’s vocals float off with the keys providing spacey, Theremin-like textures. AM’s phrasing here has its own inimitable pace. He breaks up his melodic lines in unexpected places, adding unexpected touches of tension and release to the music. The lyrics are poetic but vague, hinting at loss, longing, and a belief in a better tomorrow that will probably never come.
Other winners include “The Other Side”, a breezy confection that combines ukulele, spaghetti Western guitar, ’60s girl group handclaps, and rippling piano arpeggios to paint the picture of an uncertain love affair; “Leavenworth”, a simple, folky ballad, which may or may not be about being in an emotional prison, highlighted by glockenspiel, chiming electric piano, and a big thrumming bass guitar; and “A Complete Unknown”, a spunky rocker that has hints of funk and Latin music in its rhythm, without ever settling into either groove.
AM has obviously immersed himself in the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s, but he doesn’t write songs that are obvious knock offs or slavish echoes of pop hits past. His mellow tenor, and the ingenious arrangements of his band may suggest the past, but it’s the past of a soul drunk on saudade. These tunes are pure pop for now people, to plagiarize a phrase.
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