The Perfect Album
It’s time to jump aboard another blogging fad from those trendy guys over on Hemispheric Views. Oh, what’s that? I’m late? Shoot, I guess it was waaay back in May that Martin, Andrew and Jason spoke about their perfect albums. And then Robb, of course, put together an amazing cover flow-inspired mini site to catalog all the albums that listeners sent in. Well, I want mine in that hall of glory!
But what constitutes a “perfect album”? Here’s the prompt that Jason posed to his co-hosts:
Pick in your mind a perfect album. And I think it’s mostly open to interpretation, but I’m kind of thinking an album that you would say you could just start from beginning, let it run all the way through, without skipping songs, without moving around, just front to back and just sit there and do nothing else and just listen to that whole album.
What would that album be?
There are a handful of albums in my library that fit this description, but only one immediately jumped to mind. And it was the very first entry in my 52 Albums project (that’s been on hiatus but will come back, I swear) this year: ~How I’m Feeling~ by Lauv (2020)
(And just look at that album cover! Iconic.)
Here’s how I described it for the 52 Albums project:
It’s only been out for three years, but ~How I’m Feeling~ has to be one of my most-played albums of all-time. Lauv’s crystal-clear vocals ring true and carry forth all the emotion you’d expect from an album with such a title. It’s catchy from start to finish. It’s well-produced, yet raw. It makes me feel things. I love it.
Based on its themes around loneliness, depression, and self-reflection, you could be excused for thinking this was a COVID album, released by someone struggling through the effects lockdown. In fact, it was released on March 6, 2020 — just a few days before things “got real” here in the United States.
As you might expect for a “perfect album”, there are so many fantastic track in this record. A few standouts for me: “f**k, i’m lonely (feat. Anne-Marie)“,”Billy”, “Tell My Mama”, “Feelings”, “For Now”, “I’m So Tired…”, “Tatoos Together”, “Sad Forever”, “Modern Loneliness”, god there’s so many that I’m finding it difficult to not list every single song.
Whereas some albums, even great ones, can feel like they’re a mashup of all the individual songs an artist has come up with lately, ~How I’m Feeling~ has a distinct style and through-line of sound that carries from the first note to the final one. It makes my heart swell and constrict. It’s achingly beautiful. It captures raw emotion. It’s perfect.
If you give it a listen, I’d love to hear what you think.
This is post #25/31 for Blaugust 2024.