Thrice

If you were a cook (or a Top Chef fan like me who wishes he were a cook) you would be familiar with the art of deconstruction. It takes a familiar dish that has many components to it and breaks up those components onto the plate so that each one can be admired fully as their own element. Then it allows the admirer to combine them all together and have the taste of the original dish, but hopefully better than you’d ever had it. Sometimes that works with music, though it isn’t often tried.

For Thrice, The Alchemy Index was their version of a deconstructed dish. All of the band’s elements were there: the heavy hitting, the ambient guitar work and deeply felt lyrics, and yet they were pieced apart to allow them to stretch. The band accomplished what it set out to do, and they brought their sound to new places while bringing in some much-needed fresh ingredients to the recipe as well. But while The Alchemy Index might have sounded effortless, it wasn’t. The band was left exhausted with the writing process, and who could blame them?

But the itch to put forth a new album appeared as it always does, and now Thrice has released their sixth studio album, Beggars. As is to be expected it is more straightforward than Alchemy, yet in no way is it lazy or forced. It seems this band has a complete inability to phone anything in. But the album does continue the wave the band is riding of deeper, more personal writing and lighter but still energetic instrumentation. Old school Thrice fans may be a bit disappointed that you wont find lead singer Dustin Kensrue belting his brutal growl anywhere on the album, but fans brought in by Alchemy will have a satisfying release that plays easily from beginning to end by being more level dynamically.

With songs like “Wood and Wire” and “Circles” the band lays back from their signature moody rock sound, similar to the experience on Air, Volume 3 of Alchemy. There is some heavy hitting present on the album, but it is definitely more reserved as the title track “Beggars” starts off as the most reserved song on the album and plays out the end of the album with perhaps the album’s hardest jam. But instead of wall-of-sound guitars, they opt for brighter distortion and loud, edgy riffs. The result is a clearer, more focused Thrice that shows off the band’s brilliant chord progressions like with the song “At The Last,” perhaps the best of the heavy songs on the album. Kensrue’s voice is displayed in similar fashion, as he still has a raspy rock voice, yet the brutality often showed in other albums is absent and he is much more refined.

And clearly this is a band that revels in blending theme and structure, as their laid back approach to rock plays into the albums themes of life after death, and the realization that even the best of us are beggars. Kensrue is known for expressing longing in his lyrics, as well as his unashamed faith. As with previous albums, the lyrical content is very symbolic and plays off of biblical themes. And this time around there is a duality within that expresses hope amidst the struggle and “all the world is mad” ideology. This is best seen in the song “In Exile,” a perfect blend of everything the band reached for with this album.

The song starts off with a repetitious, earthy- guitar riff over a straightforward groove. Kensrue sings with sincerity the words “I am an exile, a sojourner, a citizen of some other place. All I’ve seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror, but I know one day I’ll see face to face.” Like most of the album, it remains straightforward, making no excuses for being so, and swells to the chorus as Kensrue brings in what is surely the band’s statement for the album. “My heart is filled with songs of forever of a city that endures, where all is made new.” It becomes evident that the band is digging deep within themselves on this one.

Where Alchemy was an experimental challenge musically, it seems that Beggars is more of an emotion-releasing experiment. Any artist can relate to putting themselves into their work. As a musician, hearing echoes of songs that seemed hummed by your soul is a constant thing. The process of bringing them to an amplifier is never easy, even when the music may seem so. Like a veteran chef cooking an omelet, so is Thrice to Beggars. It may not be the most complicated dish in the world, but when made with the right ingredients by a master, it can transform into something otherworldly. And leave you begging for more.

Tagged as: Beggars, Thrice

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