To the ears of this write, the unique strength of the BoDeans has always been the combination of the voices of the two men who have, until recently, been the BoDeans: Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann. Until the July departure from the band of Llanas, they have spent over two decades making beautiful music based largely on those harmonies. They were arguably best known for their song “Closer to Free,” which was featured as the theme song of Party of Five. However, their sound is a combination of roots and rock that, along with often incredibly poignant lyric (for examples, listen to “Going Home,” “True Devotion,” and “Good Things” from the Black and White album), that make a lot of their work much more powerful than “Closer to Free.”
As with much of their catalog, on Indigo Dreams, The BoDeans truly shine on songs of love and loss: “Sad Eyes” is a perfect example of that, with beautiful lyrics, great vocals, playing on the theme of loss and departure. They also, however, have a tendency toward the occasional cheesy tune, as evidenced on album opener “Blowin’ My Mind.”
Indigo Dreams is like many of the other BoDeans albums, and relies on the powerful combination of Llanas and Neumanns’ voices to buttress solid instrumental backing and a good folksy-rock sound. With Llanas now gone and replaced with Jake Owen, it remains to be seen whether the BoDeans will be able to carry forward with such power. However, for BoDeans fans (or those who think they sound interesting), Indigo Dreams is a fitting closure to years of history. To close with the words of the BoDeans themselves: “there’s a silver heart that says, ‘you belong to me.’ But it’s empty and used up, I’m sailing off to sea.”
