“Breathe in deep/And all at once you'll realize/ Sometimes, the most important things in life/Tend to be right in front of you/If you can hear me right now/if you're listening/If you're out there, wherever you are/I miss you/I love you/ And well, this is just my way of getting through”
So starts off When The Flowers Bloom..., the latest release from Promise Of Redemption, Valencia frontman Shane Henderson’s side project. While every CD has a back story, few have one as tragic as When The Flowers Bloom..., 13 songs inspired by the unexpected death of Shane’s girlfriend.
With that in mind, it is understandable that When The Flowers Bloom... is not exactly an upbeat CD, exploring as it does the pain, darkness, and confusion that surrounds any such event. To be honest, when I first began to listen to the CD, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to relate to the songs. However, the range and depth of raw emotion displayed on When The Flowers Bloom... and the spare and pretty acoustic tunes were actually what endeared me to this record. From loss, struggles, and sadness to hopefulness, acceptance, and reminiscing, anyone who has ever felt any of those emotions will relate.
The actual tunes are beautiful: quiet acoustic songs with the kind of melodic and excellent vocals that make the lyrics hit hard. Though it is not the kind of CD that will instantly catch you with big choruses, power chords, or super catchy Top 40 hooks, it is something that is arguably better—a record that slowly grows on you with its Dashboard Confessional-like soft, pretty, and most of all, real, sound and feel. This could be Manchester Orchestra or Dear and The Headlights if those bands stripped down their tunes, amplified their lonely themes, and dealt with such personal tragedy.
The record is not all doom and gloom—the aforementioned hopefulness and acceptance really kicks in with songs like “A Long Way Home” and “Remember The First Day,” which are more up-tempo and uplifting. As in life, there is strength to be found in confronting such catastrophe.
This record is not for those who don’t enjoy acoustic music--for someone who mostly listens to louder music, the sparsely produced, soft tracks may seem a little repetitive. While the simple sound showcases the emotions better than a louder sound would, I couldn’t help wondering if some of these songs would be even more powerful, more compelling in the context of a full band.
It would be easy to dismiss a record such as this as self-indulgent or idiosyncratic, and it is never easy to confront such stark pain and emotion; but all things considered, When The Flowers Bloom... is a great record, showing a very talented musician and writer at a very vulnerable place and time. This work will speak to many of us, if not now, someday, and will be easily appreciated by a wide audience of music fans.
Digital music enthusiasts can download the record right now on iTunes, but those of us who enjoy hard copies will have to wait until the January 22nd release through I Surrender Records.
