Better Than Ezra’s seventh offering Paper Empire offers an array of mass appealing contemporary mid-tempo guitar driven balladry interred among upbeat songs infused with a heavier hand of electronic manufacturing; producing a mixed bag of contrived pop orchestrations.
Thematically Paper Empire examines closely how we choose to spend our time and the choices available inside those moments. The mid tempo rocker “Absolutely Still” leads off the album with a volley of arpeggiated picking in the opening riff which carries throughout the entire tune; stylistically mirroring the protagonist’s energy in the realization of an awakening. The heavy minded “Just One Day” pushes reflection to a point of severe hypothetical wishing (“If you could change choices you made/would you do it today?”). While the wisdom gained in revisiting the moment in the pulsing chord chorus (think Coldplay’s “Yellow”) of “Hey Love” is as painfully self afflictive in its awareness as it is beautiful. Yet, the simple acknowledgment of finding that place in time is most prevalent in the melodic waltz “I Just Knew,” a humble declaration and dedication to that one and only. Equal in tone is the solemn vow of “Fit,” a musical proposal filled with sweeping string arrangements.
Amongst the balladry the album offers a few anthems for the ear. “All in” is simple Dionysian tale of a life being a festival of endless summer fun. The blunt “Hell No!” provides a humorous and quirky gladiatorial punch to the face of a foe on the way to victory. Less successful is the gaudy “Nightclubbing,” using programming stolen from the late 1980’s that should have been left there. On the whole it’s only when the programming is secondarily applied in nuance does the augmentation truly thrive in being effective.
The bread and butter of Better Than Ezra’s sound has been dependant on lead singer/guitarist Kevin Griffin’s penchant for being able to bend the hard line of writing alternative rock anthems while crossing over in appealing to a more adult contemporary audience with articulate love ballads delivered with Louisiana soul. Paper Empire, more or less, walks that line conservatively and perhaps a little too straight and narrow at times, however the times when Better Than Ezra achieves that balance their music is at its best.
Aaron Simms
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