When The Blerd13 talked with Raine Maida earlier this year he said that the band’s eighth studio album, Curve, was “the record we’ve been trying to make for 10 years”. Upon hearing the final product, truer words were not spoken. Furthermore, this could possibly be the album that OLP have been trying to make for their entire career. At least it sounds that way.
Produced by the band and Jason Lader (Julian Casablancas, Rilo Kiley), Curve is a turning point for a band that most folks thought was down but obviously not out. Like the boxer George Chuvalo who graces the cover of Curve, Our Lady Peace is a band that never stops fighting even when the odds aren’t in their favor and that is why this band has persevered over the years and ultimately triumphed. Curve is a testament to that fact.
It’s hard to listen to Curve and not have a smile on your face from the moment “Allowance” begins all the way through the closing chords of “Mettle”. The album is just pure OLP heart and soul. There’s a fresh sound on Curve like that of a band beginning to rediscover themselves as well as exploring the freedom of not being constrained by a major label anymore.
The airy ambience of “Fire In The Henhouse” is surreal for an Our Lady Peace song as the band begins to tread new ground on Curve’s second track. First single “Heavyweight” gets better each time it plays with one of the most crunchy yet memorable guitar lines OLP has ever laid down thanks to Steve Mazur. Bassist Duncan Coutts takes the wheel and drives “Window Seat” with a repetitive rhythm while above an almost angelic Raine Maida’s voice soars with a choir to back him up in the chorus. Let’s not forget about Jeremy Taggart either, whose drumming leads the catchy handclaps and ultimately to the enormous chorus during the uplifting anthem that is “As Fast As You Can”. There’s also the haunting synths surrounding the ghostly “Rabbits” which serves as the penultimate chapter of Curve.
Curve is not only the album that Our Lady Peace have been trying to make for ten years but also the album that fans have been dying to hear for ten years.
Our Lady Peace Curve is out now in Canada, April 17th in the US. You can get yours from our friends up north here or patiently wait until the 17th and get a copy here.
Grade: A+
3 comments
KBOX says:
Apr 18, 2012
Being a fan of the band since Naveed and watching the progression through 2002’s Gravity (my favorite album – and yes, the most commercial, thanks in large part to Bob Rock’s production) I was eager to find out what would follow after that album. As fan, I felt we were treated to two sub-par albums in HIPT and Burn, Burn (the latter being slightly more palatable). This seems, four tracks in, to truly be the band’s proper sixth album and progression in their discography, melding some sonic ideas from their past albums and applying their growth as musicians – it’s just a shame (but also a warm welcome) it comes 10 years later. It also begs the question off your interview with Raine – what it felt like to work with Bob Rock and the band’s feelings towards Gravity as it pertains to their discography. From an artistic standpoint – the reference to Spirtual Machines is obvious – but I’m curious to know if the band felt they were kow-towing to the labels demands for a single on Gravity…and how the band feels about the new album as compared to that album 10 years ago…
KBOX says:
Apr 18, 2012
Additionally, Steve Mazur sounds positively Jonny Greenwood a la ‘Bends’-era Radiohead on ‘Find Our Way.’
KBOX says:
Apr 19, 2012
…and positively ‘Paranoid Android’ on the solo in ‘If This Is It.’ ‘Window Seat’ is a throwaway and should’ve been left off…