Event
Portugal. The Man --- w/Hello Electric, Sorceress, Dr. Helicopter.
Whether it occurs consciously or otherwise, preachers preach. Pilots pilot. Destinies destine. Censors censor. Colors color. And bands band together. Naturally, each possesses virtues outside the limits of those slim realities. But none can be without the element that drives it. Portugal. The Man is a band. So, you know what they do. But to truly understand them, you must know what they are. And it would be devastatingly limiting to label this unpinnable Portland-via-Wasilla, Alaska quartet as a mere band. Which they are. But they are also fluid, chameleon, inimitable, complicated, simple, disarming and unconscious.
Stagnant, however, they are not. That concept has no place in their stable. The band vocalist/guitarist/songwriter John Baldwin Gourley, bassist Zachery Carothers, keyboardist/vocalist Ryan Neighbors and drummer/percussionist Jason Sechrist tours relentlessly from lands shrouded in seasonal darkness on to destinations of foreign custom and dialect, and all points in between. Since forming in 2005, theyve conceived an album annually, never repeating paces in the process.
Ever since we first started, this is exactly what we wanted to do, explains Gourley. An album-a-year, tour, and always challenge ourselves by pushing in different directions and trying to do things we havent done before."
Portugal. The Mans newest album features fifteen fiercely transcendent vignettes. The band calls the collection CENSORED COLORS side one is a half-dozen single tracks, while side two consists of a long suite of compositions, segued together into one seamless presentation. The music materialized in January 2008 quickly, born from the bands ravenous creative appetite, many months of dedicated touring and their rare commitment to challenging songcraft, all set against a canvas of Seattle winter skies. They did it without outside financial backing and label support; content instead to rely upon their faith in each other, their music and the steady guidance of friends/multi-instrumentalists/producers Phil Peterson and Kirk Huffman (two-thirds of the genre-defying Seattle trio Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground).
Describing the product of that faith is no impossibility. But, like quantifying an emotion, merely articulating CENSORED COLORS countless aesthetic graces is not the optimal way to take its measure. Weve always wanted to make a really heavy record mellow, reveals Gourley. And I think this time we did it.
True, without question. But the shades that coat Censored Colors reveal much more. Drawing on the sounds of Gourleys youth from classic Motown to airy Beatles numbers and the blissful melodies of vintage Zombies ballads and, indeed, shrouded in the singers visual art, Portugal. The Man shaped an organic album that stands, sways and, indeed, beckons as an assured departure from the undeniable rock stomp of 2007s CHURCH MOUTH and the bands kaleidoscopic 2006 debut, WAITER: YOU VULTURES! Mixed and lavished with additional production by renowned boardsmen Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies) and Adam Taylor (Muse, The Dresden Dolls) and featuring supplementary vocals and instrumentation by divergent talents like Zoe Manville (Schoolboy Error) and Anthony Saffrey (Cornershop), it is CENSORED COLORS by name. But also challenging and comfortable. Familiar and new. Blasphemous and gentle. Undeniably awash in here-and-now scepticism, it is nonetheless hopeful, plump with as many as appropriately imperfect moments as immaculate ones. It is the music of Gourleys childhood, made artfully profane by modern experience, coming of age and a quiet caterwaul against contemporary living. CENSORED COLORS.
Lay Me Back Down bathes in buoyant, lilting melodies that both underscore and subtly betray its post-gospel doo-wop. Colors poetic meditation on all in life that invariably changes and all that inevitably will not; at times whispered in earnest, while in others, belted out through a chorus of voices, deep with conviction. Hard Times crashes and climbs a spiralling wave of discordant guitar slams and brass blasts as its hypnotic bass drone grips it against Gourleys cathartic wail. And on 1989, Gourley delivers a ballad that amplifies the albums richest themes through a tender whisper, echoing the passion of yesterdays war hymns in the face of todays wintry indifference. Its a particularly heartfelt anthem of confession and resignation, cast gently against Gourleys own childhood recollection of the Gulf War. On an album lush with artful hues, it is perhaps Portugal. The Mans most singular, unconscious shade to date despite the fact that its conception may stand as CENSORED COLORS most considered.
That song took a little longer than all of the others, intimates Gourley. Something about it stayed with me and I spent longer writing its lyrics than on any other. I just wanted to get it right to say what I wanted to say exactly how I said it. (retrieved from http://www.portugaltheman.net/)
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LocationIKE Box
299 Cottage St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
United States
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| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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