The Power Of The Album Format

The album format has fallen out of favor, but there’s so much about it I LOVE.

An album gives a music artist a chance to create a cohesive artistic statement. Each song can act as a scene that can cross reference, thematically move in a unified direction, and allow an artist to tell a larger story than is possible in a single.

For the audience, listening to an entire album in sequential order changes the way we absorb the material and draw deeper meaning (Not to mention the practice of deep focusing, a rare thing now 😂)

Most artists don’t take advantage of the larger storytelling format of an album (probably because their audience doesn’t want it). But there’s a few that have knocked it out of the park recently, and the songs, when taken in album format are way more powerful then as individual singles:

Pressure Machine- The Killers

This masterpiece of a rock album tells the story of struggling small town America, with all the nostalgia and stark realism of a documentary. Each song begins with a recorded voiceover that adds extra context into the song without directly tying into the lyrics. Brandon Flowers lyrics are impressionistic, but grounded enough to paint clear, distinct scenes bathed in pop rock soundscapes.

When taken as a group, “Pressure Machine” weaves a story of dead end jobs, prom queens, drug addictions, and the dust on the wildflowers of the desert. Roll the windows down and enjoy this one without skipping a track.

Punisher- Phoebe Bridgers

A hazy, deeply introspective album, “Punisher” tells a stylized tale of trying to find meaning through experience and relational framing. Phoebe somehow manages to capture the exhaustion and disjointed-ness of living in a constantly fragmenting digital reality, without being plodding.

The album starts with a scathing rant against her father (a symbolic stand-in for the disillusionment of the end of childhood) against the backdrop of Tokyo. She quickly moves into quiet songs that she nearly whispers at times, adding to the feeling of the album being an anxiety-ridden inner dialogue.

The anchor of the album peaks at “Chinese Satellite”, where Phoebe struggles with a search for meaning. The chorus sings “I want to believe, but when I look at the sky I feel nothing. You know I hate to be alone”. And you feel every bit of that unmet desire in Phoebe’s quiet voice.

Of all three albums, this one is the most conceptually interesting and cross referencing, and has drawn me in to listen hundreds of times since its debut in 2020. While the content is unsettling at times, the album feels like a strangely successful attempt at self-soothing and comforts the listener, while offering no answers to the uneasiness it creates.

Bleachers- Bleachers

This self-titled album from Jack Antonoff’s side project is the most blurry lyrically of all three, and so vague it’s hard to get anything but impressions about what Jack is trying to communicate.

But Jack’s strength isn’t in his lyrics, it’s in ability to create an overwhelming feeling with his music. And in his 4th album debut, he drenches you in an emotional wave.

Harkening back to an era of music that doesn’t exist, it feels like Jack recreates a fictionalized era of Bruce Springsteen-esque pop that should have happened, but never did.

The album is fairly subdued, with an intentionality to every moment that is incredibly rare to find in contemporary artists. The album feels like a long personal story from Jack, and he brings the listener through the emotions if not the specifics of his inner thoughts.

Occasionally he leans too heavily on a specific musical device (there are at least 5 saxophone solos), but it’s easy to forgive Jack his enthusiasm because, well, he’s just SO into it and his passion is catching.

Jack is a musical impressionist, and through the careful use of dynamics and production technique, he makes this album a magical experience to listen to from beginning to end without the urge to skip once.