“So you’re learning who you are, but you’re also learning who you’re going to become and who your friends are going to become in a really weird way,” says The Early November’s slick front man Ace Enders in a recent interview. It is an idea that anyone can relate with to a certain extent. As time passes by, people inevitably change into the person in which they will be remembered. Ambiguity aside, Enders’ comment is relatable, yet it is often difficult to express in words. The Early November’s fourth full-length album IMBUE serves as a bridge for the enigma that isn’t necessarily ‘growing up,’ but ‘I’ve grown up. What does it mean?’
The Early November formed in 1999, and toured earnestly for eight years until their initial hiatus in 2007. Vigorous time on the road gave the five-piece group plenty of time to strengthen their bond as musicians. The band signed with then pop-punk staple Drive-Thru Records in 2002, and they were considered a staple of the rock/alternative/punk/emo/fill-in-the-blank scene for blissful teenagers and coming of age young adults alike. Upon their hiatus in 2007, the band was seasoned, withered, and downright tired. “I think we could have easily said no to a few tours and went away for a year, and then came back and sorted all that out,” guitarist Joe Marro explained.
The band reunited in 2011 to the joy of many. 2012’s In Currents was the band’s first studio effort in six years, and was received better commercially than critically, but left a certain…something to be desired.
Cut to IMBUE, The Early November’s latest effort released Tuesday, May 12th via Rise Records. The album is an immediate successor to In Currents in every fashion of the word. Ace Enders’ vocals have improved so drastically over the years, but he has truly perfected his craft through infectious choruses and the balance of whispers and yells. Mood and time changes remain a staple of The Early November’s repertoire, but never as magnified as on the album’s first two tracks ‘Narrow Mouth’ and ‘Better This Way.’ Each of the songs rely on delicate verses only to be imploded upon by booming, spiteful choruses. “This plastic form fed smile/Reveals the teeth you hide/We live through the narrow space between your eyes,” sings Enders in the album opener. The song manages to sting in the same way that parting with an ex who is handling it with annoying amounts of poise stings. It is an opener unlike any the band has released on any of their previous work.
The album continues its momentum into the third track ‘Magnolia’ where Enders reminds listeners of his incredible falsettos on the third and final verse. ‘The Negatives’ and ‘Cyanide’ prove to be some of the band’s best work lyrically with lines like, “The color is there/And it starts to fade so fast/Yeah, the equal signs on my mouth try to heal/My separated path.” The lyrical theme of frustration is portrayed in multiple different fashions through the album. It is often overwhelming to consider tracks such as ‘Harmony’ and ‘Boxing Timelines’ are discussing similar issues through completely contrasting states of mind.
IMBUE’s last two tracks are what propel it from good to elite, and will go down as two of the best songs in the band’s catalog. The chorus for ‘I Don’t Care’ is the most powerful hook the band has ever recorded. Ace yet again shows his incredible vocal range throughout the track with lyrics such as, “I don’t care about the thin cold air, not coming down/I’m never coming down/You give me something to believe in.” The song is an absolute powerhouse.
The album anchor, appropriately titled “Nothing Lasts Forever,” is the fastest song on the album. The song boasts some wonderfully articulate guitar work from Marro, but pulls together the recurring album themes of solidarity, angst, and hope for the future. Listeners are graced with one last falsetto from Enders as he concludes, “If this is how it ends then I am better off without it/You don’t fight breaking down, we just let it take control/Let it take control, until it lets you down/So slow.”
The Early November may have reunited in 2011, but IMBUE is the album they reunited to create. Each member has learned a lot about who they are, but they are quick to reiterate how they are still learning each day. Ace Enders continues to prove why he is one of the best singer-songwriters throughout the last two decades because he is continually learning self awareness as he progresses through life in a band. One can only hope The Early November continue to build on their unique and ever-growing outlook on what it means to be grown up.
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