Ages
and Ages is a band, born in Portland, Oregon. But
it’s necessary to look further than the simple word "band", in facts,
it represents a “corp” : a group of people gathered by the initiators of the
project, Tim Perry and Rob Oberdorfer, in 2009. On stage, they are 7 all singing
and all playing an instrument: They are two guitarists -Tim Perry andJohn
McDonald -, a bassist - Rob Oberdorfer -, a drummer - Levi
Cecil -, a keyboard player - Becca Shultz -, and two
percussionnists - Annie Béthancourt and Sarah Riddle -.
Their second album, officially out since
yesterday, entitled Divisionary, was signed with Partisan Records.
The album is made of eleven tracks, nicely
arranged, with multiple vocal harmonies embellishing their music with
brightness. Ages and Ages has one
foot in today’s pop music, and the other one in the sixties, reminding us the
movement of counterculture and this strongwill to put the
soul forward.
The album sound gives the impression that
it comes from a live broadcast, some conviviality emerges from it as well as
very contagious enthusiasm. The arrangements are subtle, without ornament, which
strengthens this spontaneity feeling when
we listen to their record. We could easily imagine us within a jam session,
where each one comes along with one’ voice and one’s instrument, and adds its touch.
The most difficult is to give the impression that everything was an evidence,
while the thorough work is precisely orchestrated. Ages and Ages could make it.
The first single out for sale is the one
which is called in the same name as the album, Divisonnary (Do the Right
Thing). It’s a hymn profoundly optimistic, that wants to be unifier. The
title’ strength goes up as the voices get more expensive on instruments, them
too more and more numerous. The words echoes the mistakes, the choices which we
can make and which determine the person we become.
The video clip evokes particularly youth, we can wonder the part of
autobiography in the history of this song. Choirs add a lot to the emotion.
There is this notion of unity, of uniqueness showing all the way throughout the LP. The power to be
a part of something big, and take a force from it, that we did not suspect.
This song aroused such a buzz, causing
Barack Obama himself to integrate it into his Spotify “re-election” playlist.
An advertisement which adds a political dimension to a song which was not
deeply political at first.
Optimism is the leading thread of their
albums, but you should not take optimism for naivety. It’s about using
weaknesses to build something bigger. It’s important to look further that the
shiny, bright side of their music. Ages
and Ages ,is an invitation to exchange, to communicate. We want to clap
hands, sing with them, we can easily identify ourselves with their lyrics, their
troubles. It’s like an introspective journey.
Light goes out begins with a good amount of morning vitamins. We happily
wander with I see More and Over
It. We take a soft break with Our Demons and Ante
Up. And the album finishes with the magic song Divisionary (do the
right thing).
This second album shows a more elaborated
work than on Alright You Restless, it’s about standing back on
life, a more distanced vision from the society in which we evolve. We observe more refined aesthetics.
Divisionary is
a portmanteau word which sends back
to vision and division, the idea that any vision provokes conflicts which we
have to use to rise up.
Ages
and Ages offer us some hymns to hum in choir, with lyrics
easily staying in our memories. Some roots poetry with a bit of anarchy. An
album full of colors which doesn’t forget the grey but keeps using it!
Amandine Bazin
