Reduction in Force – Reconcile
It’s the same ideas staring back at us, moving in circles and asking us to improve this time around. Human creativity, just like pop trends, tends to circle over the same ideas. They get used, then used up, then thrown away, then brought back.
During the 1990s, the kind of rock music which had pop appeal was determined to tell us that the world was going to explode on account of all our wickedness. The hippies had failed, but then modern hippies brought back hopefulness and acoustic guitars by the end of the decade.
In various ways, these trends have followed each other before that and ever since. And, well, as far as I can see, the world hasn’t exploded, nor have peace and love been allowed to rule. Reduction in Force is bringing together those energies.
This all means, first of all, that the resulting sound is a real surprise mix. “Reconcile” sounds like Skinny Puppy managed to get Roger Waters drunk, collaborating on a record and singing in tune. But the ideas also mix in terms of the lyrics, with “Reconcile” ending up sounding like the views of a cynic who realises that humans are their own best hope.
Samuel Price – Travelers in the Mist
Is it all a test, or some kind of celestial joke meant to amuse the angels while we sweat it out on this big rock? Or, perhaps, worst still, maybe it’s not even that big of a deal, but just something that nearly every generation goes through and the next one forgets about. Whatever it is, the recent wave of pessimism, despair and melancholy has created some wonderful opportunities in the world of music.
Finally, there’s something to write about again other than love, cars and French fries. Suddenly, people are looking to songwriters once more for some guidance and a few answers.
It’s a good time to be a prophet in the world of music, even if the visions that you have to offer all promise terrible, disastrous things. It’s a mighty fine time for a songwriter like Samuel Price.
“Travelers in the Mist” sounds like the kind of music that is played and chanted in the middle of a room of religious fanatics. This is a new religion, and it’s this song that’s their anthem. They’re crying and screaming as they sing it, but Samuel Price is the only one who knows whether this is all a joke or not. Either way, it’s a good song to chant to the heavens.
