Album Review: SYML – The Day My Father Died

Shallow Yearning That Makes for Loads of Lamentations

This past February, SYML released another album, The Day My Father Died. Filled to the brim with melancholy, the art within is the effect this work has on those outside, obviously. However, there certainly is a point of harmony between originality and nuance that isn’t entirely reached here. 

Singer-songwriter SYML is no stranger to the profit of sadness on wax. His past releases dabble in themes of all-encompassing pain and forgetfulness, this newest project is not much different. Consistency oftentimes is something that’s seen as meaningful, something to be valued as well, but this time the pursuit is in vain. 

There’s a signature instrumental backdrop to a creepily coincidental number of tracks on the album. Even with lamentable lyrics and moving messages, the distinction between a handful of songs is unclear, abandoning any kind of pattern of variation. The day of the father’s death and the depression surrounding it is, again, clear, but not dominantly compelling. 

Nevertheless, a strong sense of feverish fragility found on each and every track comes as a savior of sorts, making that the substance that’s truly meaningful, because it enables consistency to simply be. Furthermore, aside from sound, to gleefully enjoy this album, one must separate both the content of the lyrics and the theme that constantly discovers itself throughout from the overall instrumentation that’s shared without warning. 

Emphasizing the beauty of the lyrical content, “Howling” is nothing without SYML’s storytelling capabilities; it’s an epic in the form of a song, as well as being motherly, even gentle, in its disposition. It also brings attention to yet another positive component of the album: the features. They just work, and there’s really nothing more that can be said. But they’re not all perfect, and the Achilles heel of the bunch definitely is “Lost Myself,” which features Guy Garvey, who sounds like a halfhearted Elvis. 

SYML seems to have a hard time making creative pieces out of the most elementary-sounding phrases. “Tragic Magic” has a cute, playful title, but its composition might be shrouded in mystery, as it reminisces a playground hymn. “Caving In,” especially regarding its chorus, can’t succeed with the continued use of youthful language. And before the gloves are put down, it should be mentioned that “Baby Don’t Lie,” though rock-’n’-roll–ish and coming as a triumphal hark, is just as low quality.

“Chariot,” though, matches the same vibes of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” and seems to subliminally create a parallel between itself and the story of Elijah’s riding up to heaven on a flaming chariot. It might just be the best track on the album. 

Clearly harnessing the yin and yang made up of lyricism and features, SYML hasn’t given all something that’s forgettable. Rather, this latest album belonging to his respectable list of musical output is in need of some variety, even though that need isn’t dire.