7/26/14

Mysterious, moody, symphonic and subtle, Copeland songs get under my skin something fierce. Whenever I listen to them, I obsess indefinitely, because they have this way of sinking my heart and lifting my spirits at the same time. 

Here, in this song, it's in the strings, it's in the falsetto, it's in their ever-immaculate ability to hold a silence before sweeping in with something grand and beautiful. I love the delay on the first guitar line in this song, how it echoes like a memory. Earlier Copeland sounds a lot more like their indie alt-rock counterparts of the early 2000s, with guitar solos and distortion as prominent as the piano that was something of their trademark, but since then, their composition skills easily outshined their peers beyond a full-band sound, embracing varied instruments and atmosphere. They've honed in on the cerebral. 

Everything about their music is highly self-aware. Copeland excels musically and lyrically, I think, because of precise, note-by-note layering and equally precise introspection. But those thoughts are present, and poetic, offering thoughts and observations along with the spilling of guts. So it never feels that sad, it never feels that vulnerable, as an element of reason counterbalances all that feeling. For a listener such as me, what a gift. Even in their more depressing narratives, such as this, defeat is skewed with a slight, desperate promise of hanging on and getting lost in songs. 

The next Copeland album, the first since the magnificent "You are My Sunshine" in 2008 and their subsequent hiatus, comes out this October. I cannot wait. With the many events and experiences I know I have on the horizon, and the thoughts and feelings swimming about, I'll know I'll want something deep and meaningful to cling to, and a much-anticipated reunion release from a band that's consistently blown me in away could be exactly the right fit.


"You see the night is all I have to make me feel,
And all I want is just a love to make it hurt.
Cause all I need is something fine to make me lose.
Now it's a funny way I find myself with you.

Because this song is all I have to make me feel,
And all it takes is just a love to make it hurt.
And every sound arranged in time can make me lose.
Now it's a funny way I find myself with you.

But now there's nothing left to do but waste my time.
I never knew where to move on.
I never knew what to rely upon.
And now there's nothing left to say to change your mind.
And if you're are unhappy still,
I will be hanging on your line should you return.
Should you return, should you return.

Because the night is all I have to make me feel,
And all I want is just a dream to make it worthwhile.
Cause all I need is someone close to make me lose.
Now it's a funny way I find myself with you.

But now there's nothing left to do but waste my time.
I never knew where to move on.
I never knew what to rely upon.
But now there's nothing left to say to change your mind.
And if you're unhappy still,
I will be hanging on your line.

But now there's nothing left to do to draw you eyes.
I never knew where to move on.
I never knew what to rely upon.

But now there's nothing left to say to change your mind.
And if you're just sinking down,
I will pulling on your line.

But now there's nothing left to do but waste my time.
I never knew where to move on.
I never knew what to rely upon.
But now there's nothing left to say to change your mind
And if you're unhappy still,
I will be hanging on your line should you return.
Should you return, should you return."

~Should You Return

Copeland, You Are My Sunshine