In her fourth studio album, “Castles,” Lissie retains the formula that’s been working for her, as well as venturing away from it only to add a thin sheen of pop to the recordings.
This album can generally be heard as a break-up album, or at least an album with themes on leaving behind something difficult and painful. The cover art is very fitting in that way, even as it’s distinctly different from her usually straightforward artistic aesthetic, because it shows her in a more metaphorical space of darkness and light. That combination is evident throughout the 13 tracks on the album, as lyrics that create stories of difficult partners, regrets, uncertainty, and unrequited desire are couched in Lissie’s familiar strong and hearty instrumentation as well as her full-bodied vocals which lend the songs a certain kind of vitality. As they often are on her albums, Lissie’s vocals are the main attraction to the songs as she belts out phrases passionately without seeming to strain in the slightest. During the quieter moments, she is equally able to use her raw, ever-so-slightly raspy voice to create a sense of intimacy and naturalism that her lyrics often reach for.
While the Lissie traits you’re looking for are here, some of the songs do venture out into slightly interesting new territory. The first track “World Away” is a slow-burning track that works more as an introductory ease-in to the rest of the album, working to create a mood for everything else rather than existing purely on its own. It begins with somber piano notes, soon adds some strings, and even uses an atmospheric rain effect to bookend the song. The next track “Crazy Girl” is the most traditionally pop-sounding track of the album, particularly in regards to the back-up vocals employed in the chorus. “Castles” sounds more classically “Lissie,” with her balance between pure “oh oh ohs” she gets to belt out and quieter, more lyrics-focused verses, creating a teeter-totter between your heart and mind listening to the album. One of Lissie’s strengths is that her music makes you respond to it, largely just out of the force of her own delivery, and you have to feel it on a more visceral level. That’s true enough on this album, as even during songs which do not totally interest me I find myself sucked in to the track as it powers through, almost lulled into submission by the efficient and repetitive melodies and vocals. It’s kind of soothing, and it’s a very easy album to listen to while you do something else, just letting the music flow over you and your surroundings. My primary issue with the album is that I don’t often feel compelled to listen to the album if it’s not already playing.
I am interested in the themes Lissie explores in her writing in Castles, as many of the songs depict various emotions related to a problematic relationship. “Crazy Girl” is about being with someone even as everybody else around you has to ask why you could be with them, “Castles” and “Somewhere” imagine other worlds where this relationship could be at its best and actually work, “Blood & Muscle” and “Boyfriend” are more generally about the singer’s desire for real, honest romance with real, honest, adult people (“I don’t want a boyfriend.. I want a man”). “Feels Good” is about wanting someone who acts recklessly, only doing what feels good without regard to consequences; and “What Am I Gonna Do” and “Sand” are about seeing the ending of a relationship as it falls apart in front of you, and being afraid of what’s going to come next. “Best Days” and “Peace” are both about looking towards the future with hope, although “Peace” as well as “Love Blows” are two of the simplest songs on the record and could maybe even have been cut to make the album a slightly leaner listening experience – although the simplicity of the content of “Love Blows” may have also inspired the choice to release it as the album’s latest single. “Best Days,” Lissie’s currently most popular single, is the song most divorced from love trouble, and the most applicable to general life experience. It’s naturally the most positive-sounding song on the record, and the most radio-ready, as Lissie sings about the hope that her “best days” are still ahead of her. It’s the song that will immediately wriggle its way inside of your brain.
The album ends with a parallel of the first track. While Lissie laments in “World Away” that “I’m not ready to let go/it’s too painful,” by the time we reach “Meet Me In the Mystery,” she has synthesized most of the fears and doubts and questions explored in the 11 in-between tracks to come to a feeling that she is ready to embrace whatever is next after removing herself totally from a difficult person or situation. The construction of the album in that way is enjoyable because it rewards the viewer with a feeling of completion, or catharsis, from the journey we went on over these 45 minutes.
Despite the cohesiveness of the thematic content and the consistency of Lissie’s talent, ultimately Castles just becomes as good as any other Lissie album. The very consistency of Lissie’s vocals and performance also contribute to making Castles sound very similar to her previous records, which means that the four albums are ultimately fairly interchangeable. If you’re a Lissie fan, you will be happy to have more of what you love and if you’re a new listener, you could maybe find an album that is good enough to listen to when you’re searching for a casual background listen. Further listens may help to distinguish this album, but at the moment it’s just offering us more of what we already have a lot of.
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