American Aquarium‘s new album Lamentations is out tomorrow – May 1st. Here, we review the album and reveal our standout tracks.
American Aquarium’s BJ Barham has, in his own words, built a career on ‘transparent songwriting, almost showing too much’ through his music. His last album was released just after his band had quit and after the US election. Still, the album was filled with hope and self-reflection. Now, American Aquarium return with new album Lamentations and it may be his most introspective record yet. For this record, Barham elicited the help of Shooter Jennings (co-producer behind Tanya Tucker’s Grammy winning album), who came on board for this latest project and the result is profound and notable. Jennings was exactly the right producer for this project. On this project, the band come together as a force to be reckoned with and Jennings’ production is thoughtful, delicate and moderated – letting the polarities in the album ring true.
Speaking to us recently, Barham spoke of his desire in Lamentations to explore the multiple things that can break a person – taking inspiration from the book in the bible that Jeremiah wrote, questioning God’s existence when Jerusalem was falling to Babylon. So, the album opens with the quietly meditative, ‘Me + Mine (Lamentations)’ that may be the best track Barham has yet delivered. Barham meditates in this track on the anger felt when the world feels like it has turned against your principles and way of looking at the world. The track is despondent but does not feel depressingly sad, as Barham sings ‘Neither the left or the right are gonna fight for folks stuck in between / The way things really are and the American Dream.’ The outro is simply stunning, building up the instrumentation into an almost joyous conclusion, that sets the precedent for the record to follow.
More bombastic tracks follow in the record, like ‘Before The Dogwood Blooms,’ where Barham sings of making his way in the world ‘I got to get the getting while the getting’s good.’ This one is a big rock-ready track made for larger venues and singalongs, as is later track ‘The Luckier You Get’ that feels similarly anthemic. In the latter, Barham sings about the joy in hard work and getting ‘there’ the hard way ‘the harder you work, the luckier you get / The more you get done, the less you’ll regret.’ The track is built for the everyday listener, and shows another insight into Barham’s psyche and his graft to get to where he is. This is bound to be a standout track from the album, with its bold refrain that is built for live performance. Similarly, ‘Starts With You’ feels built for feel-good life moments. The track reflects on Barham’s own songwriting ‘them sad songs / Are the only things that make me happy.’ The track is a joyous celebration of love and sources of joy outside love.
At points, Lamentations feels almost painfully intimate. So, ‘Six Years Come September’ delivers a gut-wrenching punch, with Barham reflecting on his sober state and life of regrets. ‘I regretted it then, I regret it now and I guess I always will… If I’d have done a better job of listening / Maybe you would still be mine.’ The track delivers that kind of transparent songwriting that has enabled Barham to get to the position he is now. His songwriting reads as poetry, but relatable and translatable poetry for the everyday person. It feels like he is really giving something to the listener, through sharing his stories and it is that essence that draws you into his songwriting and records. The glistening quality that Jennings has applied to the production here transports it into a dream-like quality that makes you feel like you are reliving the memory with Barham. Similarly intensely reflective is the confessional ‘The Day I Learned to Lie To You,’ where Barham unpicks the falling-apart of a relationship, starting with the lie ‘when I told you that I was different.’ The track is raw in its production – the instrumentation is just flawless here – and in Barham’s intimate songwriting. Moving from ‘The Luckier You Get’ to this track offers a powerful juxtaposition, a thread that travels throughout the album, alternating between big, bombastic, anthemic tracks to these raw and confessional moments, that make the latter feel yet more intense. Perhaps the most intimate and heartbreaking moment of all these confessional moments is later track ‘How Wicked I Was,’ a plea to his partner to not reveal to his child the worst parts of himself. It feels so brutally honest, and in this track it really feels as if Barham has given the entirety of his soul to his audience. It is heartbreaking and magical.
Final track, ‘The Long Haul’ feels like the true conclusion, wrapping all the anthemic elements on the record, with the reflective qualities delving into Barham’s inner psyche. He’s in this commitment to sobriety for the long haul, yet it also feels reflective on his career as a musician, accepting its challenges and being in it for the music itself. Perhaps, Barham’s thesis at the culmination in this record is that, so many things can try to break a person, but ultimately inner strength can prevail. As he himself says, ‘there’s a resilience in the human spirit that I truly believe in.’ So, though the record is painfully reflective, it is compelling in the faith in humanity that is the core of the record.
Lamentations is a magnificent project, filled with delicate and compelling prose and tender production. At its core, as always, is Barham’s ability to bare his soul to his audience, whilst retaining a sense of mystery – a delicate balance to work with. Lamentations may just be the shining jewel in the American Aquarium crown.
Editor’s Picks
The Day I Learned To Lie To You
Me + Mine (Lamentations)
How Wicked I Was
