The Lofty Pillars - When We Were Lost
(Truckstop)
The Lofty Pillars' debut album is simply gorgeous. Michael Krassner has
reassembled many of the same musicians he did in forming the Boxhead Ensemble
only to create a radically different style of music than the first gathering
and masterfully so. These are not stark, barren soundscapes formed through
improvisation supposedly to invoke images of Alaskan winters. These
are sappy country songs for orchestra. Beautiful, sappy country songs.
The awesome success of this album is kind of puzzling given Krassner's
mediocre solo album from last year. On that album, Krassner introduced his
backing band named, you guessed it, The Lofty Pillars. So, basically,
we have the same songwriting pair (Krassner with Wil Hedricks), the same
musicians helping out, creating the same type of songs (more or less),
yet this album is so much better than last year's.
The answer why is a little mysterious. The simple answer is the songs are
better, man, but that is the easy way out. A major problem with Krassner's first
album was that the arrangements were too skeletal and too geared towards
70s pop (they had a country twang that When We Were Lost amplifies
profusely, but they remained closer to pop). The solo arrangements were
based largely on guitar and drums, with the guest musicians merely
adding one or two layers on top of that, like whoever was visiting that
day merely added their instrument to whatever Krassner was working on.
The hooks weren't as polished either. They were there and prominent, but
seemed forced and unnatural.
On When We Were Lost, the hooks are blatant, but certainly not forced.
They come in like a ginsu, not like a table knife. The compositions, here,
are much better orchestrated, as well, which is perhaps why the album
is credited to the band instead of the man even though the songwriting
credits haven't changed. The songs seem to be written for the orchestra
instead of adapted to orchestral instruments available.
There's a scent of Bacharach in how over-the-top
lush these arrangements are, which is defintely a good thing.
Krassner's lyric writing style is a little irksome but not distractingly
so. He'll approach a song in the third person for 90% of the time, using
dry, almost clinical language, then
lead into the chorus with a heartbreaking and overwrought call to "Anna Lee
come out of the pouring rain." Despite this, the lyrics are incredibly
vibrant in imagery and feeling. And one thing is for sure, even listening
to his solo album, Krassner can write extremely good choruses and vocal hooks.
The vocals are improved even further by the increased use of backing vocals.
Simply, the Lofty Pillars' When We Were Lost is the most beautiful record of
the year. If you don't want to hear beautiful music, please don't buy it.
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