[rating=4]
Rachael Yamagata’s third album, Chesapeake, explodes from the moment it begins into a busy yet joyous mix of cascading guitars and steady bass and drums, and for thirty seconds before Yamagata enters on vocals, it feels (and sounds) like a complete departure from the brooding, visceral vulnerability of sophomore release Elephants…. Teeth Sinking Into Heart (2007). But then the lyrics begin, “I miss you most in the morning / most every morning / I wake up thinking that I could call that I could come visit / I could come running / we could relive it / But when I think of all that we went through / going back to you seems such a foolish thing to do.” In fact, this sort of emotional uncertainty and exasperation is much the trademark of Yamagata’s work; however, while opener “Even If I Don’t” may appear on paper somewhat akin to the songs of her first two records, Chesapeake’s ensuing forty-three minutes strive to break whatever meaningful connection there was to Happenstance (2004) and Elephants and instead replace troubled contemplation with rays of sunshine and ebullience.
The problem is that while Yamagata can absolutely deliver songs of a happier ilk (see “1963” for a great example), to create an album that is unceasingly optimistic and upbeat can only be achieved if the musical landscape and the lyrics are tight and refined. Unfortunately, neither of these elements are executed with deftness nor subtlety, and what results is a seemingly disingenuous collection of ten songs that try and re-route the course of Yamagata’s career.
First single “Starlight” does carry quite a bit of promise among its contemporaries, as it mixes a Jon Brion aesthetic with a crunching electric guitar line and a powerful, soaring chorus. It’s Yamagata doing slightly weird and eccentric pop music, which in turn engenders quite an enthusiastic response and engages the listener without announcing a full departure from her core. Sadly, it’s one of the only tracks that connects and succeeds on Chesapeake, so thankfully it comes early in the tracklist. It’s important to note too that while “Even If I Don’t” has fairly boring lyrics, it also joins “Starlight” in being one of the most interesting and accessible pieces without betraying Yamagata’s sound.
Third track “Saturday Morning” is where the train that is Chesapeake really goes off the rails, and unfortunately Yamagata is unable to get the album back on track. “Saturday Morning” is a cheerfully strummed, Jason Mraz-style uptempo ballad, that borrows a bit of Dave Matthews’ vocal stylings over a recycled and stale melody. This track brings to the surface two major problems, and so it sinks under the weight not only of its precarious foundation but the gravity of the implications it inspires. First, Yamagata already released a time sensitive song on Elephants, “Sunday Afternoon,” which is a dark, primal and colossal nine-minute opus. With lyrics like, “I’m a drug you don’t want to give up / Smoke your cigarette, make your love, love / You pour blood in my heart / I can’t get enough / I’m drowning, and you can’t decide,” its tragedy is fully exposed and lived in, and Yamagata is unafraid of digging into the heartache to exorcise herself. Taken next to Chesapeake’s “Saturday Morning,” then, with lines like “It’s Saturday morning and we’ve got no other place to be / Baby, you lying in my arms, you seem to fit so perfectly / Well, honey, please just stay right next to me / Maybe we could do this every day of the week,” it’s almost comical. The latter is trite and riddled with clichés that hold no substance and merely elucidate the magnitude of the easier road Yamagata has chosen to take.
The second major problem “Saturday Morning” provokes is somewhat existential, in that Yamagata is not known for writing filler material. While both Happenstance and Elephants ran long, there was in no way a surfeit of half-baked tracks. Even the songs that came as bonus exclusives, EP only or unreleased live gems all exhibited considerably strong songwriting, such as “Jonah,” “Woman,” “Collide” and “Answering The Door.” So then it’s baffling that the majority of Chesapeake meanders and rests in the firm ground of mediocrity. How is it that the woman who wrote “Letter Read’ and “Don’t” accepted songs like “I Don’t Want To Be Your Mother” and “Miles On A Car” as up to par?
On the searingly brilliant “Elephants,” which opened her sophomore double album, she sings, “So for those of you falling in love / Keep it kind, keep it good, keep it right / Throw yourself in the midst of danger /But keep one eye open at night.” Yamagata had a keen eye for heartbreak, but she’s always been sage in her approach to life lessons and maturity in general. To hear her gleefully sing “The best things in life don’t come for free / But I’ll go the distance if it brings you back to me” on this new record not only offends the quite significant and powerful work she’d amassed since her entrance in 2004, but it also sadly signals the first major failure in Yamagata’s career. Rather than miss the mark with a couple of filler songs, she’s released an album teeming with unexceptional pieces that betray her strong hand at songwriting. Perhaps it’s a momentary lapse in judgment, but unfortunately it’s a fairly massive slip, so while she continues to promote songs like “Stick Around” and “Saturday Afternoon,” dust off your Elephants record and sink back into its sultry, muscular proclamation of sorrow and angst, and hope that the Chesapeake era was just a dream.
