There are plenty of artists out there who drop an album and you can instantly hear how hard they are trying to sound new or relevant or compelling – throwing musical gizmos and sonic gimmicks at the wall in the hope that something sticks. Change is, of course, necessary, no less so than when it comes to making music, but only when it feels natural. Revolutions in music are two-a-penny, according to the music press, but you can’t fake evolution.
Which is why Lauren Minear’s third album feels so natural. It is a place where so many sounds and styles come together, but only because each has been created to serve the song and sentiment she is giving us. It is the sound of someone with an already unique sonic signature trying not to move so fast that she loses that sense of her sonic self. Boxing Day is the sound of music moving on at an appropriate pace, one that embraces new ideas but not at the expense of her old identity.
“Bullshit,” which opens things off, is the sonic successor to Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn”: similar emotion, the same great musical dynamic, pop music drawn into the indie world —the sound of the underground going mainstream!
The title track, by contrast, is an ornate, lush, and dreamy piece of indie-pop, and, in comparison to the anger and energy of the opener, the recent single “Bruise” is more understated, seeking to understand but ultimately accepting that you can’t be in a relationship with someone who keeps hurting you.
“Is It Enough?” is a lovely, contemporary indie-folk piece whose stunning arrangements, not to mention its subject matter, remind me of Thea Gilmore’s more recent, cross-genre songscaping, and “Giving Blood” is a sumptuous pop-rock anthem.
From the first drop of the needle, Boxing Day feels instantly familiar, like a record you’ve somehow always known. That effortless blend of freshness and familiarity, that we find here — the sense that you’re discovering something new while revisiting something timeless — is rare. And if that isn’t the definition of a classic sound, I honestly don’t know what is.
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