Review – Oh! Gravity (Switchfoot)

Since forming as the three-piece indie rock band Chin Up in 1997, Switchfoot have gone from strength to strength. Initially consisting of Jonathan Foreman on guitar/vocals, his brother Tim on bass and their friend Chad Butler on the drums, the band released three independent albums, in chronological order : The Legend of Chin (1997), New Way To Be Human (1999), and Learning To Breathe (2000). All three were praised for managing to produce catchy pop tunes, while maintaining a sense of spirituality and nobility about them in terms of lyrics. Of course, the critical reception of these albums paled quite significantly in comparison to the sort received by their 2003 mainstream debut, The Beautiful Letdown. Poignant, poppy ear candy, it was exactly what was needed in the mainstream music market. Propelled by the smash hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You To Move", Switchfoot quickly became a household name, with their follow-up Nothing Is Sound debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in 2005. Needless to say, it was never going to live up to Letdown in terms of hit singles, but was a decent record in its own. And so here we are, looking back at the latter end of 2006, when Switchfoot released Oh! Gravity. Let's dive in, shall we?

Track Listing:

1. Oh! Gravity
   
2. American Dream
   
3. Dirty Second Hands
   
4. Awakening
   
5. Circles
   
6. Amateur Lovers
   
7. Faust, Midas & Myself
   
8. Head Over Heels (In This Life)
   
9. Yesterdays
   
10. Burn Out Bright
    
11. 4:12
    
12. Let Your Love Be Strong
    

While it certainly isn't fair to call Nothing Is Sound a flop, by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly didn't have the impact many thought it would. With Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot seeks to go back to their more raw, indie roots. The distinction between this album and the previous two is certainly significant, because on the whole Gravity sounds a lot rougher and less polished than The Beautiful Letdown or Nothing Is Sound. The first song, which is also the title track and the first single off the album, is a frenzied mélange of driving guitars, a thumping bass line and frenetic pounding on the drums courtesy of Butler. While it may not appease the mainstream audience as much as "Meant To Live" or "Dare You To Move", it is certainly a fun, bouncy track to begin the album with and an indication of the stylistic departure initiated by Foreman. The next track, "American Dream", continues the mood, with a solid rock verse backed by a fist pumping chorus (It is nigh impossible to refrain from shouting "This ain't my American Dream!" when hearing it). Listeners hoping for more of the same will be somewhat disappointed, though, because "Dirty Second Hands" certainly catches everyone by surprise. Starting off with an alt-country guitar riff, the rest of the band clicks in, albeit in a slightly eerie manner. The fact that this was chosen as the second single also underlines the point that Switchfoot want to broaden their sonic wingspan. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it actually is a decent enough song in terms of technicality and catchiness. Normality is slightly restored with the passionate anthem "Awakening", which is unsurprisingly the next single. This song is probably the most likely tune to score on mainstream radio, and has already reached upwards of 2 million hits on YouTube. The rest of the album also produces notable highlights, such as the enthralling tale of "Faust, Midas & Myself", in which a man debates the devil's offer of material gain in exchange for his soul, and the R.E.M.-esque tone of 4:12 (The song also ends on four minutes and twelve seconds. Coincidence? Who knows?). Stylistic departure has been achieved in this album, and while it will not score highly in terms of pop hits, it certainly does in risk-taking.

All five members of the band – The initial three and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar/keys/vocals) and Drew Shirley (guitar) – are musical adepts. Therefore, the technical ability on this record is of an immensely high level. The three guitarists play simultaneously on a fair number of occasions, and they are quite skilful in layering the sound so as to prevent the "wall of noise" effect. Fontamillas chimes in with keyboard flourishes now and again, which add to the exotic flavour of this album. Meanwhile, Tim Foreman and Butler are reliable as ever on the bass and drums, Tim accenting the guitars well (while chiming in with a few of his own bass licks) and Butler pounding the skins with tight technical ability. One example is "Awakening", with Butler's snare fill in the bridge and Tim's bass being emphasised in the second verse, while in the choruses the guitars sound loud but clean, heavy but not overbearing. In terms of vocals, Foreman soars more than ever before, hitting those high notes with conviction and power while managing to impart a sense of tenderness and vulnerability on softer tunes. Vocal harmonies have taken a back seat on this album, but Tim reliably provides them when needed.

Producers John Fields and Steve Lillywhite have done well in co-operation with Switchfoot, and the collaboration meant that Switchfoot was able to impose more of their ideas on the album. Foreman explicitly stated that he wanted to leave certain mistakes in, and that some songs were full band recordings, rather than individual drum and guitar tracks amalgamated together. This all contributes to the roughness and grungy feel of the album.

Possibly the only aspect of the album which has remained fairly unchanged from previous albums is lyrical themes. Switchfoot always seems to veer onto the track of despising materialism and "wanting more in this life". Their 2003 single "Meant To Live" showcases this, Foreman singing, "We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves". It is essentially the same theme on Oh! Gravity, but with more words coating it. The theme is at its most blatant in "American Dream", when Foreman basically repeats "Gone" off The Beautiful Letdown, singing "This ain't my American dream, I wanna live and die for bigger things". He even goes so far as to reference Lexus cars, in the same vein as "Gone". Other examples include "Dirty Second Hands", which attempts to induce the listener to go against the flow of time and make the most of their lives, and "Burn Out Bright", which essentially says the same thing ("If you've only got one shot, If you've only got one life, If time was never on our side, then before I die I wanna burn out bright"). Foreman should have expanded his lyrical horizon not unlike what he and the band did with the style of this album, and I would have liked to have seen lyrics dealing with topics such as suicide and failed relationships. There are some glimpses of a broadening range on songs such as "Yesterdays", which fondly reminisces about the life of a deceased loved one and "Head Over Heels (In This Life)", a groovy ballad about a lover/friend.

This is a solid album from a great band, and a good follow-up to Nothing Is Sound, which felt just a little overpolished and overproduced. With Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot manages to capture the raw energy which so often encapsulates their live shows but does so with technicality which is decent. The lyrics are the only glaring blemish, but otherwise it is a good album. Not excellent, but good and I hope to see much better in their next album, because this band is one of the successes of the last ten years.

Verdict : 3.75/5

-Josh Yuvaraj