In the main I like my music upbeat and lively, so purely on personal preference it was tempting to dock Goodbye one rating level for being so bloody grey and lo-fi. But it's so well put together, and so well played, that would just be stupid. Anyway, the more I listen to it, the more I like it.
Uncut's Rob Hughes sums it up just about right.
Goodbye is as unflinching as anything by Randy Newman and as heart-ripping as primetime Go-Betweens. A sumptuous pop confection with a hard centre.
So does Splendid's Steve English.
There's a quiet going on. Alt-rock's current flirtation with "new acoustica" -- highlighted by, but not limited to, the hushed, tender sissy-rock peddled by sad-bastard acts like Travis and Embrace -- was the only logical direction for the genre to move in after a decade of bratty mallpunk and big-shorted goon-metal made making lots of noise decidedly unhip. Vulnerability is the new macho, and fragile boys who tear up at a good sunset are suddenly in vogue. Being sensitive doesn't necessarily mean being a wuss, though, as underscored by Goodbye. Although it was crafted using a similar toolkit -- acoustic guitars, glittering keys, an embarrassment of sumptuous melodies -- the Denver foursome's fifth slab (third for Bella Union) of slow-rolling baroque pop is light years removed from the processed grandeur of world-beating bedwetters Coldplay. Half of the album's lush acoustic-pop numbers bristle with dark beauty and subtle menace, while others are riotous parodies of same that spiral off into all kinds of crazy directions.
AGB Rating - Distinction
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