Broken Bells

Rating

Album: Broken Bells
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The High Road	More Info...	0:04
2)	Vaporize	More Info...	0:03
3)	Your Head Is On Fire	More Info...	0:03
4)	The Ghost Inside	More Info...	0:03
5)	Sailing to Nowhere	More Info...	0:03
6)	Trap Doors	More Info...	0:03
7)	Citizen	More Info...	0:03
8)	October	More Info...	0:02
9)	Mongrel Heart	More Info...	0:04
10)	The Mall and Misery	More Info...	0:04

Performer Notes

James Mercer and Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) want their project Broken Bells to be seen, and heard, as an honest-to-goodness band, not a side-project dalliance. It's a little tricky to do that when first listening to their self-titled debut album, since they're such well-known and distinctive talents: Mercer crafted singularly bittersweet indie pop with the Shins, while Burton brought the Beatles and Jay-Z together on The Grey Album and went on to shape sounds for equally omnivorous artists like Beck and Gorillaz. Mercer's songwriting skills and Danger Mouse's production mastery sound like a potent combo, and they are, when the pair balances its ambitions and respective strengths. Mercer's vocals and melodies will almost certainly evoke the Shins to some degree or another, but he and Burton steer clear of the bright pop that countered that band's gloomier moments in favor of winding melodies and mellow atmosphere with lush production and arrangements. "Citizen" presents its small melody in lavish surroundings -- it's hazy bedroom pop, if that bedroom were in a five-star hotel with 1000-thread-count sheets. "The High Road" melds slick electronic percussion and a searching, minor-key melody into something that echoes the duo's previous work without rehashing it. "The Ghost Inside" is especially exciting, pushing Mercer outside of his comfort zone by pairing his falsetto with wobbly keyboards and strings. Toward the end, Broken Bells break out of their reflective mood with "Mongrel Heart" and "The Mall & the Misery," which, after a lengthy expanse of strings and horns, closes the album with some crisp chamber pop. ~ Heather Phares

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.64) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Danger Mouse pushes Mercer's gorgeous, existential tunecraft outward with Day-Glo dynamics."

Spin - "The phantasmagoric 'Sailing to Nowhere' perfectly fuses their sensibilities....And 'Mongrel Heart' is a fascinating refraction of Burton's obsession with film scores."

Entertainment Weekly (p.69) - "Burton builds layered, twilit soundscapes for Mercer's pensive musings..." -- Grade: B+

Billboard - "The new album's opener, 'The High Road,' revs to life with the sputter of what sounds like an arsenal of vintage keyboards, while shivery film-score strings coat Mercer's sad-guy croon on 'Citizen.'"

Paste (magazine) (p.65) - "Mercer's vocals sound looser than usual against these careful backgrounds, whether leading a falsetto chorus on 'The Ghost Inside' or alternating between pinched filter and husky chorus on 'Sailing to Nowhere.'"

Pitchfork (Website) - "[I]t hits its marks....It's a deceptively catchy album centered on personal loss."

Fishpond works with suppliers all over the world to bring you a huge selection of products, really great prices, and delivery included on over 25 million products that we sell. We do our best every day to make Fishpond an awesome place for customers to shop and get what they want — all at the best prices online.

About Fishpond

You can earn a 8% commission by selling Broken Bells on your website. It's easy to get started - we will give you example code. After you're set-up, your website can earn you money while you work, play or even sleep! You should start right now!

Are you the Author or Publisher of a book? Or the manufacturer of one of the millions of products that we sell. You can improve sales and grow your revenue by submitting additional information on this title. The better the information we have about a product, the more we will sell!

Submit Information