Typhoon - White Lighter

Typhoon White Lighter  

Aug 20, 2013

Thank NPR for this one. Thank me as well. You’re welcome.

I listened to this album in early August via NPR’s First Listen and it hooked me really quickly. These guys rubbed me right, happy ending and all. Or as they called it “fie dolla, yes?”.

Seriously, this album has been wrapping me up for a month now. This guy Kyle Morton has a pretty intense back-story that he touches on in this interview: http://www.npr.org/2013/08/31/216898673/typhoon-songs-for-a-lost-childhood. He was a Lyme diseased little boy whose early life of physical hardship still fuels his artistic endeavors and continues effect his day to day life. In fact, the tracks were composed during a time in which he was uncertain whether he’d be around much longer. You’ll notice most of his lyrical themes are about his larger life questions that have gone unanswered. It makes for refreshingly sincere content.

I know I know, I’ve given you enough reason to dive into this one but then there’s the music! The music is good. It’s really good. Typhoon calls itself a musical collective consisting of twelve to seventeen dirty flannel wearing, mustache sporting, puffy nylon vest donning Portlandians. They orchestrate it all together very tastefully, putting silence to use frequently. And in the cockpit steering that seventeen passenger van are consistently rhythmic vocal melodies. Couple hey’s couple ho’s but thankfully no hey-ho’s.

I’ll only get into one particular song. Prosthetic Love. Mainly because of the zingers but also because it’s my jam. He explains his experience to love, namely the role his physical condition plays and so his constant relationship with death. After accepting that love in his life will not be like ‘the actors he sees on television’ or as a bird whose song he recognizes. It will rather be a gamble and perhaps the stone better left unturned. Goes so far as to compare himself to Job except that at least Job was able to experience having everything.

As heavy as all this sounds, it will sit much lighter on your ears. It’ll pick up your heart. It’ll put down your certainty. And if you let it, it’ll wrap you up. 

Dennis