The release announcement came days following, perhaps, the most acrimonious presidential election in American history. Americans were at their most divided. But, here came ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) with their Frames announcement. Those of us who know this band had a chance to pause in the uncertainty and heave a sigh. This was the best news we’d heard in a long time because if there’s one thing ALO brings to the table in times of uncertainty, it’s an unfiltered lyrical and musical injection of positivity. Frames is a case in point.
Guitarist/Vocalist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz perfectly summed up the new release, “So often we find ourselves trapped in a warp-speed life with frames of information coming at us faster than fire,” he said. “Some of it’s inspiring, and some of it’s scary, but it’s all so rapid-paced that it can feel impossible to keep up. The space between frames is about finding that quiet place without so much noise, where we can reflect on what we want to be and what we want to offer the world.” And where Lebo’s “Space Between Frames” tackles the theme of the record with direct disco swagger, tunes by his bandmates may smack more subtlety.
Vocalist/bassist Steve Adams’ initial offering is a punchy little rocker entitled “Separated, Come Together” and looks at the righteousness and randomness of our life’s relationships and their comings and goings. Vocalist/keyboardist Zach Gill’s take in his “Blank Canvas” is to look at what’s in front of you with fresh eyes and an abandonment of cynicism. In “Rescue Our Demons,” vocalist/drummer Ezra Lipp suggests that instead of confronting our darker instincts, perhaps it may be better to sit with them, maybe even embrace them as a natural part of who we are.
These ten new songs drip with a sense of reckoning and thirst for understanding the place in which we can find ourselves, together, outside of the confines thrust upon us. Only a band built upon a foundation of decades of friendship and musical understanding can deliver the goods with music accented by sweeps of synthesizer, soaring guitar leads, soothing vocal deliveries, pounding dance grooves, and enlightened lyrical wordsmithing. What ALO gives their listeners here is an opportunity to take stock of what we each have that makes our lives good and think about how we can improve those lives and those around us.
This is not some mystical, unattainable hippie ethos anymore – it is something we all must find to move forward. ALO does this through tracks focusing on friendship, partnership, family, and the collective energy that will make these songs fly live. Song by song is a collection speaking to a greater good, and, aside from taking a quick side street here or there, it never loses focus. These songs call on us to be better, do better, and maybe even listen to each other more closely, shaking hands with a neighbor and eschewing preconceptions and prejudice. Damn . . . that is the bus all of us need to get on right now.
