Robert Francis-Before Nightfall-2010
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ARTiST: Robert Francis
ALBUM: Before Nightfall
BiTRATE: 161kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Atlantic
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 53.04 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 43min 30sec total
RiP DATE: 2010-06-26
STORE DATE: 2010-06-25
Track List:
01. Darkness 2:54
02. Junebug 3:58
03. Nightfall 3:25
04. Climb A Mountain 3:44
05. I Like The Air 3:21
06. Keep On Running 3:43
07. Mescaline 4:06
08. Where You Came From 2:53
09. One By One 5:17
10. Hallways 2:50
11. Playground 3:44
12. Do What I Can 3:35
Release Notes:
Remember that Zales commercial where the dude dumps a ball of twine out a
window, pitches it across a roof, scales a building, then sets up a makeshift
tram to deliver an engagement ring to the dark-haired hottie? Well, that alty
music you heard amidst all of the unexplained gymnastics belonged to
22-year-old, singer-songwriter Robert Francis whose musical bed Dont Forget
Love helped sell lots of diamonds. Though that spot was all about sweetness and
sentimentality, Robert will have none of that on his new album, Before
Nightfall.
His first album, One By One, was a homemade, self-financed exploration of young
muted lives such as those in Mama Dont Come, a song that touches on
abandonment better than a session with a shrink. Built on the life experiences
of its predecessor, Before Nightfall introduces us to that same hero-protagonist
who, this time out, puts much effort into evaluating that which lurks in the
shadows. In the opening track Darkness, Robert sings, When youre lost in an
old part of town, got no friends to carry you around...no ones going to find
you if you ever get lost this time, and this moody character study of his ex
that may as well be about himself sets the tone for the remaining eleven tracks.
Each songs intensity seems to be the result of the demolition of adolescence,
both Roberts and his off-camera mess of a girlfriends, and this outre female
continues her dance macabre across most of the project as well as the artists
heart.
Though Robert Francis is a talented mutli-instrumentalist, its his
writingsharp and poeticthat deserves most of the attention. His music and
lyrics wrap themselves around the emotion of the moment, changing course from
comfort to confrontation instantly like in the anthem Junebug where, in three
short lines, were given vague essentials on why a relationship sputtered
(...that was love I could not allow, you were beautiful then, youre just a
coke jaw now). In Mescaline, Roberts femme fatale is ...burning in some
backseat, burning in some room, and then he admits, I cant put out a fire
when it looks like you, making his former job of protector that much more
conflicted since its obvious he still cares. By the time you get to his revisit
of One By One in which he shares, I loved a girl once, she was very young,
every day I wonder what I could have done, hes filled in enough blanks with
guilt and biography for us to understand his/her/their world. When we hear that
she wound up sitting somewhere where the walls are all white, losing herself
underneath those fluorescent lights, we all have a pretty good idea where she
is, and its not in a boring little office somewhere. (Speaking of locales, if
you want to get a snapshot of this dramas neighborhood, check out I Like The
Air.)
Before Nightfall also seems to be about Robert Francis reclaiming his lifeand
sanitypost a traumatic relationship, since, as he also says in One By One,
I lost all the things that I loved in you, losing myself in each other like we
used to do. Further proof is in the title track in which he declares, Losing
my mind...its too late, I aint gonna wait around, Honey, Ill be gone before
the nightfall, with gone implying totally losing it if things dont change.
Or maybe its the nightfall thats the breakdown. There is a lighter song or
two (such as the very These Days-like Playground), and there is a
hopefulness to it all. But as a whole, this is a dark little concept album due
to its relentless focus; quite frankly, after about seven or eight songs in,
youll need a cold face-splash. Since Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is
still fiction for the foreseeable future, Robert Francis will have to grin and
bear it until hes either worked through the catharsis, or is saved by a
beautiful new relationship or a good ol single malt.
And we havent even gotten to the musical side of things. Never toxic, these
recordings, overseen by producer D. Sardy, just want to showcase the narratives
and Roberts vocals in the brightest, darkest light. To further cement the
imagery of a songs subject matter, the emotion-drenched tracks employ nifty
time shakeups, smooth unexpected chord changes, and an arsenal of Wurlitzers,
Hammond B-3s, Farfisas, and mellotrons that compliment Roberts guitar playing
and evocations of The Band, The Doors, U2, and even Bruce Springsteen.
During most of these recordings, Robert respects and is inspired by the old
school as he transmutes it. His voice ranges from matter-of-fact to emphatic,
his falsettos being the most genuine sounding of all of his contemporaries. By
the time you reach the albums beautiful trilogy of Climb A Mountain, I Like
The Air, and Keep On Running, you will be sold on this artist, and therell
still be half an album to go. Its not Disney, its not American Idol (there is
a God after all), and its not Mayer or Mraz, no dis meant on those guys.
Fortunately, Atlantic seems to know what theyre doing with him. This is an
excellent major label debut, one that could mean a lot to a lot of people one
day. Good job, Robert.
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