Melancholic Indie Rock

Often times it is quite difficult to separate a solo artist from a rock ensemble that has been around longer than said artist’s solo endeavors, especially when the rock group is known for their dynamic stage presence and aptitude for yelling lyrics to a raging audience. Yet, singer and guitarist for Alexisonfire and creative leader of City and Colour, Dallas Green, is not interested in limiting himself. In fact, Green has made quite the name for himself under his solo project in recent years.

While he has always released solid albums, his latest effort If I Should Go Before You is his strongest album with a full band to date. The album was released October 9th, 2015.

Green’s musical journey has been alluring to watch as he started with Sometimes back in 2005, an album based entirely on songs created during his teenage years and his early touring years with Alexisonfire. Perhaps his most acclaimed, Bring Me Your Love was a distinct departure from his first effort and let his burgeoning audience know that he would not stay in one place musically with his solo project.

Green’s third album, Little Hell, started something that up until this point Green had been attempting to perfectly create – a full band sound, fraught with electric guitars, ripping solos on occasion, and the occasional country twang.

While each City and Colour album is captivating on its own right, If I Should Go Before You has landed somewhere beyond all of his previous efforts. This is readily apparent during the first track “Woman,” which reaches up to 9 minutes in length. The song showcases a side to Green fans have not seen before, an experimental venture into ambient and dream-like musical sequencing. Clearly the darkest song on the album, Green coos quietly an oath to a never-ending love, “When the world has emptied / And the planet / Is covered in dust / I will stand / Stand beneath the silver moon rising / Waiting to resurrect our love.”

“Woman” is the perfect introduction to an album that extends between dynamic thoughtful dance numbers and occasional quiet, reflective pieces ranging from subjects of life and death to love and loss. Throughout City and Colour’s entire discography there has been this constant struggle between stripped down acoustic tunes to full band indie rock songs that showcase Green’s vocal ability at the helm to draw in listeners. Not only are full band rock songs almost exclusively demonstrated on If I Should Go Before You rather than acoustic, the music set beyond Green has improved immensely.

For the touring years following The Hurry and The Harm, Green constructed a band to fill his live show with talented and experienced set musicians. Green decided to carry that relationship to this latest release and it shows – the band compliments his writing style and delivery so much so that it is easy to forget his acoustic roots under City and Colour.

This is especially apparent on tracks like “Mizzy C,” “Killing Time,” and radio-friendly “Lover Come Back.” The third track, “Mizzy C,” sounds similar in direction to Little Hell and The Hurry and The Harm, but it sounds more complete and showcases a side of City and Colour that hasn’t graced his other albums nearly as much – the music is alluring in its own right. This is especially apparent during a short breakdown in which the vocals and percussion dip out and the listener is lead through a small musical walk on the guitar that is just enough to pull you out of the structure of the song to make you even more interested. The moment is short, sweet and a total play on the fact that the chorus says, “If I try to change direction / I might not find what I’m looking for,” for which the song distinctly changes another direction.

Yet one cannot listen to City and Colour without commenting on the vocal gymnastics Green is most known for with past releases. Green’s vocals are often wintry in nature and timbre, but there is a sunny side to his voice on If I Should Go Before You, namely on “Wasted Love,” and “Runaway.”

The album can be split between a somber first half and a somewhat sanguine second half. If I Should Go Before You is bookended by two vastly different songs that are excellent in their own respects. “Woman,” the long and atmospheric start and then ended with “Blood,” the soft and introspective realization that hard work pays off if you search deep enough.

Green’s direction is more apparent on this release than on any of his more recent albums. The band’s chemistry is first-class, Green’s vocal ability has improved to astounding levels, and the songwriting is some of City and Colour’s best work.