IN REVIEW: Manchester Orchestra - "A Black Mile to the Surface"

When last we heard from Manchester Orchestra, they had just partaken in an exercise of extremes; 2014 saw the release of the intentionally heavy Cope and its intentionally stripped down counterpart Hope. These albums seemed like the result of curiosity, in that it felt like the band wanted to see how far they could go in each direction while, in the end, perhaps the songs would have been better served by sticking to the space between. Although I didn't fault them for going hard, many fans felt the emotional center of the songs had been bludgeoned by Cope's production (and, subsequently, all that remained in the arrangements on Hope).

That said, if there's one thing we can look forward to about a new Manchester Orchestra record, it's that it won't sound like the last one. True to form, A Black Mile to the Surface sees the group dull the edges they stabbed the songs with on Cope, opting for a cinematic sound that's surely a result of Andy Hull and Robert McDowell's recent work on the score for Swiss Army Man; rather than slash and burn, these songs breathe and glow like hot coals, with the added instrumental flavour that was last seen in earnest on 2011's Simple Math being applied once again here. The difference is, now they work these extra sonic layers into the songs in a way that makes sense rather than haphazardly piling it on simply because they can.

The emotional weight that carried Manchester Orchestra through the early phase of their career is refined and adapted to age here, specifically moving from the existential angst of youth to the joyous and uncertain anxiety of parenthood; having recently become a father has shifted Andy Hull's lyrics somewhat. There is still plenty of darkness and despair at play, and Hull's characters on this album are going through a lot of pain but, at the core, there is hope in this new life. Overall, though it tells a bleak story of hereditary hopelessness, A Black Mile to the Surface is also a story of possibility; like pin holes of light as makeshift stars under the blanket of darkness, these moments overthrow the despair and flood the record in temporary light. Opening track The Maze (written at least partially from his daughter's perspective), The Sunshine (smack dab in the middle of the record to act as a buffer), and the closing section of last song The Silence all address this directly, the latter bringing the album home on a particularly reassuring note ("Let me hold you above all the misery / Let me open my eyes and be glad that I got here.").

The subtlety and nuance of A Black Mile to the Surface makes for a less immediate listen than previous Manchester Orchestra albums; to wit, don't expect anything to leap out at you like Wolves At Night, I've Got Friends or April Fool. Then again, this album wasn't designed to spawn two or three hit singles and rack up some quick numbers, it was designed to be a full-album listening experience; and, for the willing, it offers far more than surface level satisfaction. There's a depth to this record that I feel like I've still yet to fully uncover after more than a dozen spins and, in this age of quick and easy, an album that requires such a deep dig must truly be a treasure.

July 28, 2017 • Favorite Gentlemen/Loma Vista
Highlights The Gold • Lead, SD • The Silence