Jack’s Mannequin’s upcoming album
The Glass Passanger
Andrew McMahon, former vocalist and pianist of Something Corporate, released Everything in Transit as Jack’s Mannequin in August of 2005. Since this album, excitement and hype for this piano rock outfit has continued to build. Then McMahon’s battle with Leukemia worried fans and delayed any new releases or touring until this summer 2008. A tour with Paramore and the release of The Ghost Overground EP and In Valleys EP are leading up to the highly anticipated sophomore album The Glass Passenger, to be released September 30th. [more]
At first listen to the new tracks on The Ghost Overground EP, “The Resolution” and “Bloodshot,” I was a bit perplexed and worried for what was to come with the full length album. My fears were completely quelled at first listen to The Glass Passenger. A story, not to be listened to out of context, Passenger tells of hope, determination, and the everyday. True to McMahon’s former releases, his lyrics are full of beautiful simplicities and down-to-earth narratives of life. Musically, the new release finds itself halfway between Something Corporate piano-saturated Leaving Through the Window and poppier keyboard/drum machine tracks of Transit.
The album opens with “The Resolution,” a piano-heavy track from beginning to end filled with a desperate and determined McMahon singing “I’m alive, I don’t need a witness to know that I survived. I’m not looking for forgiveness.” While it seems a definite reflection on his struggle with cancer, it also seems a reflection on life and its journey in general. This seriousness segues into a very Transit-like rock “Miss California” of sweet simple romance and a frivolous, more electronic “Spinning.” “Swim” is the heart-wrencher of the album. The most musically reflective of Something Corporate, “Swim” again returns to this lyrical life struggle in which he is instructing what seems be himself to “just swim” despite any obstacles. Andrew sings, “I swim for better days despite the absence of sun. Choking on salt water. I’m not giving in.” The rest of the album continues with this balance along the line of philosophical and flippant, delicate, personal stories and lunch table gossip. Two personal favorites help round out the end of the album. “Lullaby” tells a story that is specific yet relatable. Truly a tragic lullaby, filled with swelling piano and a light snare, McMahon sings the listener to sleep with the story of a conversation with an old friend. The friend begs, “Come on write me a song. Give me something to trust. Just promise you won’t let it be just the keys that you touch. Give me something to believe in.” It gives this sense of connection, a sense of confiding and trusting. “Caves” finally finishes this tour de force with an uncharacteristic intro reminiscent of a Broadway solo in Les Miserables that converges into a light piano fluttering perfectly typical of Andrew. This works it way into a more rock and firmer sound. “Walls are cavin’ in. Doors got locked for sure. There’s no one here but me. Body like a rag doll. You stuck the needles in my hip.” A song of loneliness but not hopelessness, “Caves” again straddles struggle and determination closing the album with a positive we-can-make-it-through-this attitude.
An album about life filled with highs and lows, piano ballads and pop rock melodies, Andrew McMahon as Jack’s Mannequin has perfected this sophomore album in every sense. You can enjoy it this September 30th.
