letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful

Five days ago, letlive., four guys from LA, released their new record The Blackest Beautiful and if you haven’t already listened to it, I recommend you do so immediately. Before I started to write about it, I listened to the commentary given by Jason Butler, lead vocalist of the band, on Spotify and let me tell you, the thought and work alone that have gone into these 11 songs is nothing short of impressive.

The Blackest Beautiful kicks off with Banshee, a song which is intended to reflect the different stages the album went through until it became the beautiful record that we can listen to today. Empty Elvis follows this, as a sequel of sorts to Banshee. It deals with the way the entertainment industry works, and explains the changes that people can go through as they entirely devote themselves to their dream.

Some culturally conscious topics are also brought up in this record. For example, in song number three, White America’s Beautiful Black Market, the issues of being born into restrictive environments are explored, especially discussing how differing circumstances of birth can determine people’s futures. Furthermore, this song is also a commentary on the state of the health system in America. Of this subject, Jason says the following: “There is a sickness that is spread throughout societies and it’s intentional. They want to keep us sick." A statement which arguably says a lot in itself.
The Priest And Used Cars discusses faith and the ignorance which results from the blind following of ideology, whether it’s religious or scientific. One of the most important things gained from this is that having individual opinion is imperative to the wellbeing of society.

As well as covering political arguments, this album handles some of Jason’s personal demons. In Dreamer’s Disease he discusses his struggle to place someone in a position of trust and to be able to open up, while Virgin Dirt is meant to reveal how he has difficulty with love in general. He tries to live his life as normal as possible and yet he says that relationships are tightly connected to self-sabotage. Pheromone Cvlt even describes how Jason failed being “the" man for a woman, how he failed being in a relationship; he even provides conflicting imagery by describing love as a war.

Concluding the record is 27 Club, a song that reflects the recklessness in Jason’s life and an amazing end to an amazing record.

The Blackest Beautiful turned out to be a challenge for me. The lyrics caused, and still cause, me to reflect a lot. Jason has a very special way of handling words and putting them together and sometimes it is difficult to understand what his intentions are. If you’re already a fan of letlive., I’m sure you’ll love this album as much as I do and if you’re going to listen to them for the first time, you’ll get used to their sound. All in all I believe that this is one of the best records of 2013 so far.