David Bazan - Care (2017) [Official Digital Download]

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David Bazan - Care (2017) [Official Digital Download]

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David Bazan - Care (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time - 35:03 minutes | 396 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Bazan more fully embraced synths on last year's Blanco, and has only refined his approach for Care. An album of almost only synths and voice might be a risk, but it pays off thanks to the crisp production from Richard Swift. Juxtaposed with chilly synths, it's easy to all the warmth of a fingerpicked acoustic guitar contained in Bazan's voice alone. Fans of soft-spoken, indie/emo singer-songwriters haven't heard textures like this since the Postal Service's Give Up, though thematically, Care is closer to Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool or Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear.

Bazan's candid songwriting here examines his domestic life as a husband and father. One technique he uses for this is a 'turn' or 'volta' towards the end of each song, a single line that either changes the meaning or reveals it. In "Care," it's "stop romanticizing cheating"; in "Sparkling Water," he confesses "I don't want to be alone"; and as "Inner Lives" paints a scene of a morning coffee and joke between spouses, it ends with the line, "in an instant I remembered who we are." Album closer "The Ballad of Pedro y Blanco" closes with the lyric "put down your guitar, go enjoy it right now," a poignant idea concerning struggle between touring and domestic life. The sonic risks and personal openness make Care the best thing Bazan has done in years.