I was never a big fan of the Beatles. For starters, I can’t spin that fast, and for all their musical innovation, I often can’t get past the whole nursery-rhyme vibe of it all. But Jeff Lynne idolizes them, and ELO is the greatest band ever, so I’ll defer to his judgment. And if you’ve heard the new album Watercolor Day, you already know that veteran singer/songwriter Seth Swirsky agrees.
Watercolor Day is only Swirsky’s second solo album, but his decades of experience are more than readily apparent. And for being, essentially, a rehash of ’60s and ’70s Britpop, the album sounds fresher than much of the flamboyant dance-floor fodder bleeding out the kiddies’ headphones these days. Is it shocking to anyone else that to go against the grain in the music world, you have be to modest and subtle? Not “look how profound and nuanced I am cuz I made this understated” subtle, but, you know… actually subtle? For Swirsky, who’s had nearly a decade to explain to his leftists colleagues how they’re absolutely wrong without burning bridges, you get the impression that subtlety comes second nature to him.
The album’s received plenty of praise and lots of adjectives like “shimmer,” “shine,” sweetness,” “bounce,” and the like, but to peg Watercolor Day as a happy record is leaving out the true meat of it. The best pop is music is sad pop music, and Swirsky’s got boatloads of melancholy oozing through his sweet, shimmery bouncing. Single “(Never Knew You) Harry” may sound like a goofy tribute to Harry Nilsson, but you get the sense that he’s not just saying, “Hey, you were a great songwriter,” but he’s lamenting the boundaries that time can place between people. If only he hadn’t been born so late, he could have been in the business when he first heard “Everybody’s Talkin’;” He could’ve been one of Harry’s contemporaries.
And this feeling of displacement hangs over the whole album– a yearning for some other time or place, even though this one is already so beautiful. It almost veers into breakup concept album territory. The narrator comes across as an introvert recounting his thoughts through a single day. He’s nerdy, full of romantic fantasy but held back by his timidity. We catch his mind admiring nature, longing for women past and present, and cursing himself for lost opportunities. “Distracted” shuffles around an insanely catchy trumpet riff as he realizes he never gets anything done because of his conflicting interests. On “Melancholy Rainbow,” the album’s longest song (at 3:25– score!), our protagonist muses about the titular omen of impending heartbreak shining through a window as he lays with his lover: “I don’t wanna let go,” he sighs. This theme of lost love continues through “Matchbook Cover,” “Living Room,” “Big Mistake,” “Stay,” and “She’s Doing Fine,” whose ambiguity suggest that Swirsky imagines this is woman still with him after she’s left.
But that’s not to say that the album is a total downer; from the laid-back whimsy of “Song for Heather” to the folksy brightness of “Sand Dollar,” Swirsky still makes sure the listener has a ton of fun while getting lost in the record’s introspection. And with impeccable production and orchestration that even the Fab Four might envy, he strolls through multiple styles of classic pop and rock effortlessly. The drums are crisp but full; the guitar creates a pleasant bed to hold up the non-rhythm tracks, and Swirsky’s crooning voice evokes George Harrison almost uncannily. His performance shines through on “Fading Again,” a song which he notes is very autobiographical for him. As he reflects on aimlessness and losing himself in day-to-day ennui, his longing is palpable. Finally, he resolves, “I just need the air and this guitar to be free.”
For Swirsky, art is not an escape from the real world; music and creativity are his links to the real world. And, though his music is absolutely apolitical, this chorus reveals an important truth. For how much we gripe about our circumstances (either the Left talking about how big corporations are keeping us down or the Right talking about how big government is keeping us down), we still have this vital freedom: no one is keeping us from going to some solitary place and doing whatever we love that keeps us sane.
Watercolor Day is just about everything that classic pop could and should be: emotionally meaty without literalistic lyrics, fast-paced without sacrificing dynamics and structure, and immediately accessible while offering tons of subtext to draw out in subsequent listens. This kind of laid-back pop isn’t the style of music I normally go for, but it’s easily apparent that Swirsky has crafted a work of true passion and skill, and it’s an ultimately satisfying listen regardless of any difference in taste. If you’ve hated my music reviews in the past, I’d recommend you pick this one up. You just might fall in love with it.
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