Odd Soul by MuteMath REVIEW

This has been one incredible week, in more ways than one. One of those ways comes through the purchase of the 3rd and latest album from one of my all time favorite bands - MuteMath. I heard about this band from a friend of a friend - I wanna say 3 to 4 uears ago? We were on a beach vacation and the friend, Nick and I roomed together. He's a musician himself and sharred a couple of his favorite bands with me, Muse and MuteMath among them. Ever since that vacation when Nick played MuteMath's first self titled album I fell in love. Songs like Chaos, Typical, Stare At the Sun, Break the Same and Reset were just burned into my mind. Right after that vacation I flew to the nearest Best Buy and bought their first and second albums at the time, MuteMath and Armistice the latter of which Nick knew about but didn't have at the time. And you know it blew me away even more and it was more fun to listen to it because I didn't know anything about whereas Nick and I already listened to their first one.

And now on to the next one. Odd Soul is indeed a slight departure, or as I like to think of it and evolution and adventure from the band's first two albums and their classic sound. They're known for their alternative-rock and electronica styles. The closest thing to electronica I ever got was a song or two by Daft Punk years ago so this was pretty interesting. They've always had a little but of a bluesey lean to their music also and that more blues-rock feel is more intentional on this 3rd go around. And I likes it!

REVIEW TIME:

The title track Odd Soul kicks things off. It's heavy on guitars, and has a minimal synth or electronic feel. It's a classic rock song. Generally lyric-wise I take from it a search for individuality and not giving up when you're rejected. Just keep looking for that place you fit it in. There was some contraversy over the melody of the song becasue it reminded fans of The Black Keys song Brothers. I happen to listen to that song and in all honesty I felt I had to try to find the similarities. But I think that's fair. I think the outcry came from listeners who are die-hard fans fo both acts; I don't have any 'Keys music so I didn't get it. Doesn't mean it's not there, I just didn't catch it.

Sometimes MuteMath turns a phrase in a way that really sticks out: "Everything we've built could be our demise/It's the sticks and stone that where us down that often save our lives" Break the Same, and from their 2nd album "You know the one thing you're fighting to hold/Could be the one thing you've got to let go" Spotlight. They do the same on the song Odd Soul too, "Watch for who you know/Careful what you try". Now the two examples above were really clever to me and challenged me to think about letting things go or about how I viewed hard times, but this line here challenged me in a more immediate way because relationships and new things are happening to me in this season of my life. So the line wasn't something I had to ponder from the past and apply it to my present and future, but something I am going through now; it felt like a Godsend of some kind.

Prytania has one of the strongest blues-rock influences on the whole thing. Darren King's drums are just so wonderful on this track. Prytania happends to be a genus of moth. I know i'd never heard the term before either. I could swear this band sits together and flips through dictionaries and refferences jsut to find the most unique word they can and then write a song about it LOL. The song opens and the just the way the drums and guitars go at it I am reminded of anime, like Cowboy Bebop or something, IDK ha. The song is a "moth to the flame" type story, I think from the guy's POV. Pretty much he's interested in a girl that might be bad for him but he just can't help it: she's the one he wants. Period. The only one. So it slightly reminds me of Electrify from the Armistice album but with a warning.

Blood Pressure has another rock feel to it and is really fun to listen to. Actually in many areas this album is very bombastic, the guitars and the drums! It slightly reminds me of the feel I get when I listen to Typical actually. Blood Pressure is sort another analysis themed song, just looking at something and pulling it apart in song, never really offering a solution, just laying it bear which is kinda what they did on You Are Mine. When they do that I happen to always feel like it's up to me if this is truth, then I have to do something about it. So here do I wanna keep on being compared to others and bottle it up or do I want to be simply me? Now they never really ask this but I somehow walk away with that. They find a way to write simple lyrics that mean something though!

Tell Your Heart Heads Up is a very fast paced song that brings to mind other past MuteMath songs like Noticed and Spotlight. Thematically it's Noticed, another ode to guarding one's heart. So it starts off with "When I was young and unafriad it was all a game". 'Heads Up then continues to open up how immature hearts can't control themselves; they don't mean to be fleeting or aloof or harm anyone. But the rest of us better watch ourselves for these kinds of "admireors". That's it in a nutshell, the song is so awesome to listen to for me just like Noticed haha but I'm mad it's only 2minutes 55seconds >_<

All Or Nothing is a nice slow jam (if I may call it that) about giving your all. Paul Meany's falsetto is so sincere on this track. I really like the verse "Aligning stars that you wait for/Always know if you're holding back" it gives me the idea that even if star formation influences outcomes then even they know if humans are putting our all into our actions. Since I believe that good works made in advance for me to live out through a person Christ determines my outcome then I really know I need to be sincere. The song ends with a nice electronic video game instrumental.

Allies features more rock enthused drums and guitars and it makes me think of a desolate landscape like something out of The Book of Eli. That's becasue I think the song is about relationships, romantic and platonic. It deels with some issues with warfare imagery, kinda like John Mayer's Battle Studies. It' about the stupid fights we have together and we feel our opinion is the only reality. We get lost in the pursuit of a "wrong answer" so we wind up spinning our wheels and "Never find our enemy/We're gunning down whatever breathes". Everything gets out of control as we scrutinize others and swear we have it all together and they don't. We need to remember relationship is most important because both views deserve fair examination, "There is nothing to defend/Nothing to surrendor" so free one's self from that pressure before it's too late. Certainly relevant to me because of my ability to be really critical of things sometimes lol.

Cavalries features some more of that awesome blues-rock. I also love it when a song stars off with a set time of just instrumental before the lyrics kick off. Right now the only thing I can glean from the lyrics is that "He rose". I don't know who yet so i have to give it another few listens and hopefully find those lyrics. I'm working with a digital download sans the PDF booklet. But if it was just a straight instrumental track that'd be fine too!

Walking Paranoia is great it reminds me of the earlier track Blood Pressure, it seems there's this gripping fear to be perfect. One interesting verse has to do with knowing Jesus is coming back ... while you're standing at the porno rack. Lol I really wish I could glean the lyrics from this one cuz the music is great and the story is very intriguing. The band even speaks on preachers too, the oines that only really care about having a TV station, again I think it has to do with fear of not being perfect as you have been led to believe you should be, in a particular culture or vocation and even just as an individual. I know me not knowing all the lyrics blows a bit but I'm just being real, listening to the album as I write so it's experiential. Hopefully you the reader will go out and buy this album based on my report, if you like it. Or at least go on youtube and listen to their music their and watch some music videos for this album and their others.

One More "Flower-made fool I keep parading while dressed in rain" - if I heard that verse correctly it's kinda wild. I see someone doing something out of character, foolish but they find a way to make it look good. Or maybe something positive made someone passionate not really foolish in that sense and those things are bad and dreary "I" keep marching on life is what I make it. I could be reaching here or maybe not, MuteMath does believe in fan interpretation. The rest of the song and the chorus has to do with a second chance of some kind, "One more reason, one more try, one more feeling, one more high". It might be a relationship coming to a close and the one singing is desparate for one last shot at redemption. It's got more blues-rock going on and it's got some cool applause (musical clapping) in the background that makes the song more festive. And Roy's guitar and/or bass riffs are so awesome and just keep getting better and more exciting as the album progresses.

Equals is a chill and thoughtful song about unity, "Nothing's gonna stop what we started/Nothing's gonna break what we've bonded/We can make the world spin however we want it/It's all on us". The song sounds like something what I might hear out of the 70s in one of those big round vans with the silver V on the front? Lol if that makes sense, sorts hippyish and I say that with the utmost repsect ^_^ doves, does and flowers everywhere.

Quarantine is oh man the big one. These guys always have at least one really BIG song, as far as music and lyrics, a sort of send off right before the finale. In my opinion it would be maybe Stall Out off their first album. The second album is harder for me because it's a 3way tie between Goodbye, Armistice and the actual finale Burden lol. So I guess they like to always have big song or two then so this is one of my big favorites on this album. It's also two songs in one because it's heavy on Roy's guitars with a very cool fast versed beginning and middle but but the other half is this slow blues-rock breakdown with the chorus "Let it heal someone". So it's 4 parts, fast-versed, breakdown, fast again and the rest is breakdown. I need to get the lyrics for this too big time. The chorus sounds so cool and I really want to know what it is the band says will heal someone; I wonder if it's time away or possibly boundaries. It's just awesome to listen to, you have to loop it up yourself. Hopefully the guys will do a music video too.

In No Time actually ends the album if you didn't get the deluxe version. It's another chill MuteMath classic talking about not giving up finding what was lost. It sounds like more personal responsibility encouraged on the track in verses like "Where's that old spark a failure stole?" and goes to admit that though the sky, even the world may fall around us we may yet find we were looking for "in no time at all". This is clearly gonn abe used by Hollywood for something dramatic and personal next year or the years to come - ok I don't know that haha but one can hope right? But you listen to it it sounds like something our of a young hiptster movie trailer 20 somethings and 30 somethings would go see. It ends resiliently with words "We can get it back" repeated over and over again. I read another review and the writer put it perfectly the band finds a way to end with a song that "makes you just feel good for no reason". A fine end to a fine album by my boys.

AND NOW THE BONUS TRACKS:

Amendment short and sweet with a message about finding something better than what you already have. It sounds a bit eerie I have to admit but it works. Plus it's got this cool super slow breakdown near the end that surprised me but I had to laugh becasue it was so cool. The music is the only thing slowed the singing is still the same, no altering there.

Cold Sparks is a verse from the the earlier song All Or Nothing "Cold sparks are seconds from burn out". It's a cool song with some great music but I can't really tell you what the song is about lol, Paul Meany can be heard talking about finding them though. I'll figure it out soon enough, it makes a great instrumental overall since the lyrics are few anyway. Maybe it's about the "spark failure stole" mentioned in In No Time, that inspiration that maybe died and now it's time to bring on the thaw. The listener still has the power to figure out for themselves.

Sun Ray is broken up into two parts but you only know that if you buy the deluxe version. I'm so glad for more instrumental on this album because I really missed them on Armistice, the closest we got on that one was the end of Burden. They're cool smooth tracks not as energetic as the ones on the first album like Obselete and Reset, more chill factor like Collapse and After We Have Left Our Homes.

OVERALL:

That's my breakdown. I just love these guys. So many couldn't get with the band's slightly new style, but this might not be permenant, maybe just an exercise or where they happen to be creatively this time around. They might be more straight electrinica when the next album hits.

I do wish Greg Hill, their previous guitarist much success wherever he goes. He left one year ago this month but I don't actually know how much of this album he was apart of; I have to look at when the guys actually started recording and stuff. The band recently welcomed Todd Gummerman on as their new guitarist. Roy is their main bassist but again since I don't know how all the personnel on this album was arranged during recording I don't know where everyone worked or all of their areas. I just know it all sounds wonderful. You'll spot Todd on the Blood Pressure video though!

Odd Soul I think is more or less my final identity album for 2011. God has been so good this year, not that he's never good any other year lol. But it's been quite a ride this year and God and I have been on the hunt for burried treasure I guess you could say in regards to gifts and passions, interests, truths and the like. Some of this I mentioned in my Needtobreathe review of The Outsiders. I know God has always spoekn to me through the arts and music is definitley one of the branches he uses to communicate with me. He is really using the music I talked about here to strengthen me, mold me and fund my one way on the good life express. It takes a lot of courage to live out loud and I am just in a good place to mature further this year and this album cemented some ideas and questions I had been thinking about and asking about.

I really don't have any rating system. Based on my report if you're into music, electronica and blues-rock and MuteMath check out Odd Soul.

MuteMath hails from New Orleans and plays in the styles of alternative-rock, blues-rock and electronica. You'll even hear referrences to their Christian faith in some of their songs. They are comprised of:

Paul Meany on Lead Vocals.
Darren King on Drums.
Roy Mitchel-Cardenas on Bass.
Todd Gummerman on Guitar.

EL FIN