Katie Darby Recommends

Very few records take on all of the topics that everyBoy does with Parachute Mind– faith, love, fidelity, right and wrong– with any success. everyBoy (Bruce Nathan) does so not just with grace, but with a really solid musical sound to back him up. I’ve seen him compared to Neil Young and Jeff Tweedy, but I can also hear full Brit-pop sounds in this record (like early Oasis records, or even bands like The Clientele and The Feeling). The guitar parts on the record are intricate and playful; there are strings sewn in that give the record both intimacy and gravity; and looking at his band (which includes musicians who’ve played in acts as varied as Jack Johnson’s band, Groove Collective, The Band, and Van Morrison), it’s no surprise that they’re able to weave together a record about themes no less important than life and death. These are talented, experienced musicians– which is mindblowing on some level, because Parachute Mind is everyBoy’s sophomore record.

everyBoy – “Parachute Mind” by Katie Darby Recommends

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The first single, “Parachute Mind,” plays on almost a bumper-sticker phrase– that a mind works better when opened. The Eastern-tinged strings weigh the song down with a gravity that, when lifted, actually do feel like the listener is being allowed to soar. The song is expansive and dense like a Death Cab song, but no piano– it’s created entirely with the stringed instruments. There’s a moment where the chorus comes in and it’s absolutely transcendent:

As long as there’s a ripcord

On my parachute mind

It’ll stay open, and I’ll be fine

Nathan’s vocals are a big part of why this record works: they’re straightforward and honest, but they seem to really make the best of opportunities to fly and open up a song. On the first track, “To Arjun,” which is, in a nutshell, about a warrior being comforted by a Hindu god (“How will you play your role? Have it in your soul?/ Embrace fate, your true destiny”), there’s a real strength and power behind the vocals that give the speaker authority. There’s a comfort to Nathan’s delivery that changes from song to song; naivete and self-consciousness on “Barks Too Much,” knowing sadness on “Narcissus,” and a broken disdain on the piano-drenched “Ego Solo.” In each track, it’s obvious that he knows what he’s doing, and that the delivery is as much a part of the success of the song as any of the other instruments are. In fact, with lyrics as poignant as he offers, in some cases it’s more important than the instruments.

One of my favorite techniques that everyBoy uses is the tendency to take a common or familiar phrase and re-examine it; in “Narcissus,” he takes the given adage that you can’t love anybody before you love yourself and alters it slightly:

You might make it to the mountain tops and never know the climb

Walking up that slope, did I even cross your might?

You might struggle on for hours and never sweat a dime

Would you still love getting up there if it was a waste of time?

What the hell are you running from?

What the hell are you running for?

What the hell are you running from?

This is as good as it gets,

You can’t love yourself if you love nobody else

There’s an acknowledgement here that human self-worth is tied to an ability to love– later in the song, the only real explicit reference to Narcissus, “Isn’t it hell to stare at yourself all day/ When there’s no love in your eyes?”, further explicates the point of the song; you do have to love yourself. But you also have to be worthy of that self-love, an idea that really made me stop and think; it seems so obvious, but it’s not taught that way in our culture right now. There’s this movement of self-esteem at any cost, and this song really takes that on in a subversive, beautiful way.

There are songs that stand out as completely different; again, the piano-driven “Ego Solo” seems seething in comparison to the other tracks, and “TV News” has a Weezer-esque rock ‘n roll vibe. “L-U-V” (which explains and explores the misspelling in numerous ways) sounds like Alternative to Love - era Brendan Benson. The only track that doesn’t seem to fit in perfectly is “Don’t You Know,” and that’s due in part to the tone; there seems to be a little bit of a sarcastic edge to the song, which doesn’t appear anywhere else on the disk. If nothing else, Parachute Mind is a paragon of sincerity, and it works best when playing into that: for example, some of my favorite lyrics on the disk are from “Barks Too Much”–

While you’re out there dancing

Praying for peace in your own way

Don’t get caught in the moment

And forget what you mean to me

You’ve got me to come home to,

Me and a dog that barks too much

I know you won’t be back early, don’t be afraid to wake us up

Even the jealousy and darker emotions on the disk are dealt with in a loving, playful way, which really gives the disk a spiritual angle; the narrators in these songs keep trying to do what’s right; to allow freedom, to make the right choices in battle; but there’s the constant struggle of the real world (and the Narcissus’s). The focus on the lyrics in this record is pretty pure: he’s examining and exploring human worth through human relationships. Which is what I think many pretty good records try to do, but only really great records succeed at. This record is a great record: it succeeds on every level, not the least of which is that it’s pleasant, engaging, and layered upon listening. The musicianship only pales in comparison to the writing technique.

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Catch everyBoy live:

Fri Sep 02 11  10:00 PM — New York, NY US – Venue: Arlene’s Grocery

Thu Sep 22 11  08:00 PM –Brooklyn, NY US — Venue: Goodbye Blue Monday