Something
Emporium

I got my copy of SJD's new album, Songs from a Dictaphone, today. The CD itself looks like a reel to reel tape.

I got all excited checking the album out with cdparanoia. It gave twelve tracks, one more than the listed eleven. Ooh! Turns out there's just thirteen seconds of (absolute) silence before the first track. Damn. I was hoping for something cool hidden there.

Theme? Oh, yes. This from the track listing:

5. Jesus
6. I Am the Radio
7. Lucifer

And yeah, track six fits as you'd think. The lyrics (included in the inset - great): "God's guitar is on the radio. He plays the bass on just one string oh." and so on. There's also a bit in common between the last couple of songs ("Forty flights up, with the travelling blues", "Falling through the air till they hit the ground").

I don't know if I like the transition to SJD being a full, consistent band in recording. I'm sure it makes a lot of sense for touring - no problem with that. And these songs are much more suited for a band than any of SJD's previous repertoire. The idea still makes me nervous though.

I guess it's the music that matters though. I love the gospel touches here and there. Holy hell the last song is good.

I'm a sucker for lyrics, and this album has some awesome, awesome ones. The density is incredible: a stanza is repeated no more than twice, most of the songs have no repeated lyrics at all. Some fragments:

Lucifer, I've been so fucking bad,
And you're the best excuse I've ever had.