By Jeffrey Trainor (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: June 3, 2015
George Lewis Jr. has often been a perplexing member of the indie music landscape. His two albums, 2010’s Forget and 2012’s Confess, were both incredibly inconsistent. Yes, it should be noted that both records did contain stellar singles such as “Castles in the Snow” and “Five Seconds,” but overall each record felt like it was missing something. Based on this prior experience, I was fully expecting Eclipse to be another sporadic musical escapade.
Eclipse opens with “Flatliners,” which successfully establishes the tone of the record. With crisp, electronic beats, punchy synthesizers, and reverb-drenched guitar tones as his backdrop, Lewis Jr’s crooning vocals slide gracefully overtop. This mix of instrumentation heavily draws on ‘80s synth pop, and this might make it easy to assume that the sonic palette of Eclipse is old, tired, and overdone — but Lewis Jr., who is a credited co-producer on every track, does an excellent job of avoiding pastiche. He successfully melds the sounds and styles of the past with a very modern production job, which gives the whole album a fresh and polished tone.
This approach highlights a more well-rounded songwriting touch. There are still some songs on this record you’ll want to skip time and again (for me they were “Eclipse,” “Watch Me Go,” and “Locked and Loaded”), but overall the consistency is much improved: a huge step forward for Twin Shadow. Some standout tracks include the lead single “To The Top,” which features a strong drumbeat with bold and bright piano overtop. If it wasn’t for Lewis Jr.’s voice, you’d feel the instrumental was a power ballad by Journey. “Half Life” is anchored by a pulsating bass synthesizer and highlighted by Lewis Jr.’s scaled vocal melody. The most eclectic track on the record comes in the form of “Old Love / New Love,” a Swedish House Mafia-inspired house jam. In all honesty, it is the black sheep track of the album, but its catchy rhythm, lively piano, and infectious vocal melody will likely have you moving in one way or another.
Lyrically, Eclipse seems to be Lewis Jr. searching for something true while also dealing with the push and pull of a relationship — perhaps a relationship with life itself. Lyrics such as, “you’ve got my heart strings pulling in the wrong direction / you got me all alone with my own affections” and “hold onto me / don’t say it’s the end of me” portray a battle between the personal and an outside source, be it life, a friend, or a lover. Throughout the record, Lewis Jr. carries this back-and-forth dialogue well, creating a cohesive image from start to finish.
