The fourth, completely overproduced and failing due to pop Whitney-studio album Spark was a single disappointment last year, which quickly disappeared from the radar with sobering indifference. With the standalone single For a While however, the duo is now winning hearts back again.
Since the times of the debut album, the ideally titled one has been haunted For a While already through the band’s repertoire, at that time still under the name Rolling Blackouts. In the course of the most recent tour, the song written in 2016 (by Julien Ehrlich, Max Kakacek, Malcolm Brown, Ziyad Asrar and Will Miller) has now been rearranged and finished, meticulously produced (by Brad Cook, Jonathan Rado, Ziyad Asrar and Whitney) – and rushes to the aid of a discography that has since Light Upon the Lake in public perception with regard to the qualitative level is rather on a latent downward trend, recently even displayed in a worryingly demonstrative manner.
After an ambient synth entry, Max Kakacek (guitar, mandolin, keys, bass, synth) and Julian Ehrlich (vocals, guitar, drums, percussion) expand into the large structure – Will Miller (horns), Macie Stewart (violin), Lia Kohl (cello), Malcolm Brown (keys), Jonathan Rado (organ) and Ziyad Asrar (synth) – their relaxed indie soulful, summery and relaxed orchestral shimmering so soft and warm. For a While later blossoms twice into an absolutely endearingly nonchalant, naively playfully dancing celebration, which is wonderfully harmoniously embedded in the sweetly dreamy romance, and uses the rich sound palette as an additional melodic framework without oversaturation.
A bit like the homely consolation after Spark, quite forgiving.
Ehrlich: „The lyrics of “For A While” were inspired by a time Max and I drove past a burning car on the side of the highway in Northern Illinois. From what we could see everyone made it out safely, but in that moment we were both struck by the ubiquity of anonymous tragedy. Over the course of writing “For A While” that experience evolved into a feeling of gratitude and love for all the people who aren’t able to be with us today. We’ve been working on this song for a few years and a few different phases of our lives. It’s seen some people come and go. We lov e you all.„
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