Shearwater

The cover of Shearwater’s new album, “The Golden Archipelago,” features strikingly dramatic imagery. A man on a canoe, completely covered in a white sheet, follows a golden, sunlit pathway toward a lush island. It suggests a reversion to an innocent and natural life, immediately hinting at the album’s anti-societal theme. Unfortunately, after appreciating the cover, it is probably best to leave “The Golden Archipelago” alone, as the album fails to achieve the quality of music necessary to back up such a powerful message.

Formed in Austin, Texas, Shearwater are named after the graceful bird that inhabits several tropical islands. Co-founder Jonathon Meiberg, the singer, guitarist, and driving creative force behind the band, imbues his music with a romantic touch derived from his love of nature. His music overflows with emotion and spirituality, attempting to contrast nature’s purity to society’s artificiality.

Shearwater’s romanticism is perfectly reflected in the opening thirty seconds of the album. Before even a note is played, a profound tribal song, reminiscent of a prayer, greets the listener. This prologue segues into the first track, “Meridian,” which continues to be a testament to the group’s talent. Shearwater expertly create a rich texture through guitar and multiple percussive instruments, including bells, while Meiberg lyrically juxtaposes the peaceful ocean with violent warfare. Cymbal rushes wash powerfully over the listener, simultaneously invoking the sound of ocean waves and exploding bombs. The effect is powerful and thought-provoking, and if the rest of the album was as inspiring as the opening, Shearwater would have created a masterpiece.

This promise is never fulfilled, however, as far too often the remaining tracks fail to distinguish themselves from where the album started. The once fresh and complexly layered sounds quickly become stale and pedantic. “Hidden Lakes,” to take just one example, maintains an aura that is reminiscent of “Meridian,” which primarily derives from Meiberg’s unchanging singing style and the repetitive nature of the underlying music. Not only is the lack of variety monotonous, it also detracts from the merits of each individual song, as each seems incapable of saying anything original.

Not only do the songs lack variety, but the emotions of the album frequently feel forced. In particular, Meiberg strains his voice ad nauseum to create melodrama, manipulating his deep baritone to sound as though it comes from a heavy trance. While at times this is an asset, his voice becomes more and more affected as the album progresses, until it reaches an unbearable level of pretension. The zenith of Meiberg’s vocal affectation can be heard on “God Made Me,” where he abhorrently accentuates every note with an exaggerated swell of his voice.

Accompanying Meiberg’s affected voice are his equally affected lyrics. A particularly insufferable track is “Corridors,” which depicts a man being tortured by the man-made world. At the climax of the song, Meiberg screams out, “Chain him to the burning carousel / Till the horses tire / Blast away the bearings of his life / Till his eyes are wild / Till his eyes are white.” This violent imagery is the epitome of how appalling Meiberg’s hatred for the man-made can be. Yet his overbearing words suggest that he is trying too hard to let us know just how much he cares.

The imagery of the lyrics throughout certainly has deeper meaning, and there is much to explore on “The Golden Archipelago.” The deluxe edition of the album includes a fifty-page booklet, “The Golden Dossier,” to accompany the carefully crafted songs. The dossier contains pictures of foreign islands and birds, and excerpts of explorers’ memoirs that have traveled to such islands. One excerpt in particular, where an explorer speaks of shooting natives, was clearly chosen to add to Meiberg’s already overdrawn sloganeering, which after listening to the album is already tiresome.

Amidst the plethora of blunt, hackneyed messages from Shearwater, they seem not to have focused enough on developing the music. Despite a few strong tracks and some occasionally thought-provoking imagery, when faced with the prospect of re-listening to “The Golden Archipelago,” it’s much more tempting to put on something a little less heavy-handed.

—Staff writer Edward F. Coleman can be reached at efcolem@fas.harvard.edu.