Music Review: “The Blessed Unrest” by Sara Bareilles

After sitting down and finally listening to the Sara Bareilles‘ new album, I finally came to the conclusion that she is a wonderful artist. She is soulful, and her lyrics just tug at your heartstrings. When you think she is going to go lower on a note, she goes to a higher one. She is unpredictable and so pure that it is soothing.

Now, I am not sure how many ways I can tell you all how much I enjoy this album. She is the perfect person to listen to whether you are going through a break up, an empowering yoga retreat, or just hanging out. Her music is so adaptable to any situation that it makes the music even better.

I would like  to walk you throughout The Blessed Unrest so you can understand how phenomenal this album is and really understand what I mean.

The album starts off with “Brave,” her single that she released as the prelude to her album. This is a perfect “feel good” song and one of those motivational type songs. It starts with a stiff snare drum (she really utilizes the snare throughout this whole album). She says the song was about telling her friend to be brave about coming out but in the music video she made it about being ambitious. Regardless, being brave only really has one meaning: to be able to face your fears.

Then we transition from “Brave” into “Chasing the Sun.” “Chasing the Sun” starts off slow and continues to be slow until it reaches a vibrant chorus, and she starts to overcome and tells herself to stop wasting time, and her audience to stop wasting time. This song is a great example of how versatile Sara’s music really is. This track can be a perfect “cry about your break up” or just a regular road trip song.

We go from “Chasing the Sun” to one of my favorite songs on the album, “Hercules.” This song is another type of motivational track about trying to become strong and acknowledging her weaknesses. Her lyrics simply state that she is just trying to figure out what she really wants but she can’t be good at everything, so she figuring everything out by herself. The snare drum really drives the song to make it compelling and great to listen too.

From the slightly upbeat song,  “Hercules” we shift to a love song, “Manhattan” this is possibly one of my favorite slow songs from her work in general. The song is so soulful, pure, and simple. It starts off being just her and the piano. It then goes into a little bit of percussion and brass. It is simple yet so compelling.

From the love song “Manhattan” we continue on that same path with “Satellite Call” which starts off with the piano and drums. Her voice has tons of reverb which give it an interesting spacey feel and something that she has not done before. This is a mellow song that you really need to close your eyes and listen to because its just so soothing.

From the two love songs we transition to an upbeat song, “Little Black Dress.” As much as I hate to say it considering how much I love her, I wasn’t too impressed with her work on this song. I feel as though it was just a filler to get 12 songs on the album and not as much as  soulful and kind of just a filler type song. I did not hate the song; I just thought she would’ve put something a bit more meaningful.

The next song, “Cassiopeia” really shows how she channeled Greek mythology and astronomy with this album. Cassiopeia is a constellation, which is funny considering “Satellite Call,” and she says how Cassiopeia lays in the corner of the sky.  She starts with a psychedelic feel in the song and then goes into a stronger percussion type feel. I enjoyed this song, and it made up for “Little Black Dress.”

“1000 Times” is the next song on the album after “Cassiopeia,” and it is a truly interesting song. She explains the feeling that she had for someone or something. This is obviously a revealing type of love song. She tells how vulnerable she felt in this relationship, and it was just fascinating to hear. I love this song because its so soothing and pure. This song also describes how complicated love is, and how vulnerable you can feel. Its simple to see that her heart was broken and how vulnerable she was in this relationship she had.

After “1000 Times,” the album goes to a more upbeat song, “I Choose You.” This is a fun track; it puts a smile on your face. She explains how she wants to love this one person, and she is now choosing them, obviously. She backs her voice up with her own vocals, which is something I truly admire in this track.

Following “I Choose You” we have a way more upbeat song and also one of my favorite songs by her out of all of her work: “Eden.” “Eden” is just a fun song, and it talks about how strange new places are because this year she made the transition from Los Angeles to New York City (still waiting for the day that I run into her). This song was clearly about her moving to New York City and its really cool to see how she feels about it. This is a great tune for just a summer song.

The next two songs are her last songs off the album: “Islands” and “December”. In the song, “Islands,” Bareilles is again discussing how helpless she feels when she is alone in the city with nobody to love and how she worries for herself and others. When she sings, “you must become an island,” it is really one of the most chilling lyrics she sings throughout the whole album. Her voice is just so phenomenal. I loved this song. With the last song, “December” was a little bit more upbeat, and it was a wise choice to end the album on this song because while it’s upbeat, it’s also subtly sad and really encompasses the whole album and how her move was very transitional.

Overall, the album was really fantastic, and I truly enjoyed it. It was worth the wait and the constant reminders from countdown notifications I received on my mobile device.

What did you think about the album? Discus by commenting below with your thoughts. Is this one of your favorites?