Earlier this week I felt the urge to give this another shot
and contribute a new review to the good ole’ Sub-Mariner, I knew I wanted to
write about Delta Spirit’s new album Into
The Wide, but I had no idea where to start. So as I rode the bus back and
forth from campus this week I contemplated how to tackle this ever so scary
task. Did I want to attempt a Peter style thought provoking, Goshen
college-esque, review? Or did I want to try the Kane White poetic and
professional review of an album? Why not both?
The question I pondered this week, while squeezed in my seat
on an overly full bus of college kids, was what do I want from a new album? Am
I looking for something bigger and better? Something completely different than
their previous albums? Or just more of the same? Eventually I decided that I
just don’t have a good answer. The logical side of my brain wants to see
improvement from album to album. After all it just makes sense, the band was
had more time to play together, write music together, and generally improve on
their musical sound. It should show growth as a band, show growth as musicians.
But to me, just an average joe schmo music listener, this didn't feel like the
right answer to me. I don’t have any technical musical training, I can’t tell
you what chords a guitarist is playing or what notes a vocalist is hitting, I
just know what sounds good to me and what doesn't.
So that left me with, in my mind, two possible extremes of
what I wanted from a new album. Either more of the same, or something
completely different. So I went through the album collection of Delta Spirit,
one of my favorite bands, in an attempt to see what makes them so likable to
me album after album. I quickly realized I was being far too drastic by
thinking of something different and more of the same as polar opposites. What I
want is both, is that too much to ask? I don’t want another repeat of the same
old sound that was in a previous, but at the same time I don’t want my favorite
indie rock band to turn into a death metal band. I want a band to hold on to
that “thing” that makes them who they are, while creating a new, fresh sound.
To me Delta Spirit does just that. They stay true to their roots, but every new
album comes with a unique sound and feeling.
Into The Wide is
Delta Spirits fourth album and was just released in September of this
year. This time they are back with a new feel, a more moody, “dark” (for lack
of a better word) sound. With a mix of stadium rock anthems, slow ballads, and
everything in between. This is who Delta Spirit is. They create music that
makes you feel, and Into The Wide is
no exception. Yet despite the moody sound of the music, Matt Vasquez's ever so
strong voice raises through with the positivity in the lyrics that is all so
familiar. The songs speak of love “The Wreck”, friendship “From Now On”, never
giving up hope “Take Shelter”, and of course the token anti-war song “War
Machine”. To me this is the “thing” that makes Delta Spirit so good. Each album has
a distinct sound; the folksy feel in Ode
to Sunshine, the loud and proud self-titled album Delta Spirit, and now the darker sound in Into The Wide. But through all the different sounds, they remain
true to their hearts and consistently deliver; keeping that “thing” in their
sound that makes them Delta Spirit.
