Rock stars seem to love singing about big issues whenever possible, especially death, but rarely do they do it with any true appreciation of their subject. The usual tendency is to romanticize it – from "Last Kiss" (you are no doubt familiar with Pearl Jam version, but it was originally recorded in 1962 by Wayne Cochran) to "Don't Fear the Reaper" to "Enter Sandman" and so on – but every now and then an album comes along which expresses, deeply and sincerely, how we really feel about death. Namely, that it scares us beyond all comprehension (because the prospect of our own death is incomprehensible). Warren Zevon's The Wind was such an album. So is Typhoon's White Lighter.
The key is, both artists have stared directly into the blankness of death. The Wind, Zevon's final album, was recorded while he was dying of cancer. Kyle Morton, vocalist, songwriter and leader of Typhoon, nearly died of Lyme disease in his youth. He was eventually saved by a kidney transplant from his father, but not before having to confront death in its full reality at a very young age. White Lighter finds him still grappling with the aftereffects of that.
Morton is not afraid to go big with his lyrics, yet he manages to avoid cliches where others would wallow in them. For example, one recurring theme here is space and astronomy. The link is obvious: the universe makes us feel small and insignificant, so does death. But when Morton puts them together, the connection feels earned.
He does this by finding many links between the subjects. The very first words on the album are, "In the beginning I was standing out in my yard/ with my father pointing up at the stars/ and I asked, "Is there life on Mars?/ Is there love like ours?'" (“Artificial Light") In the next song, "Young Fathers," he uses the theme to explore how dreams often don't come true: "When you're young/ you have your whole life before you/ everyone with adore you/ grow up, you'll be an astronaut/ or whatever you want." (Morton is smart enough to know that he doesn't have to explain those dreams are doomed.)
Later on, space becomes not just a metaphor for death, but its very instrument, directly or indirectly. "Morton's Fork" relates how "the sun will expand to consume our house in flames/… turns out that we are shit out of luck." And "Possible Deaths" declares, "Every star is a possible death/ we gave them names/ we called them cancers/ we called them accidents." But then he goes one step further; the star which represents his death "burned out five million years before I saw it." The whole concept really is too large to grasp. And worse, we are all alone in it. In "Martin's Fork" he sings, "we are alone in this together," and in "Common Sentiments" he repeats that as "you're all sleeping together/ but you will die alone."
But it's not all despair. Throughout the album there is a female backing vocal which offers a more positive spin on things; on "Morton's Fork," she sings, "Let it go/ let it go/ let it go." The album closes out with a vow, "I will never leave you broken-hearted/ you will never be alone and feel discarded/ as long as I'm alive I'll finish what I started… my love is unconditional." It may be a cliche, but it is also true that the only answer to death and loneliness is to love unconditionally while we are here, while we can.
The music of White Lighter, provided by a group of friends which is as much a collective as a formal band, fits the mood of the lyrics perfectly. It is intense, dramatic and emotional. Morton sings with a real sense of urgency, as if, in fact, this is his last chance to say what he needs to say. Even before you catch the lyrics, the album sounds important, and not in a pretentious way. It's not all heavy either, the music is melodic, flowing. It manages, at the same time, to emphasize the emotions while sweetening them, making them not only palatable, but pleasant.
On White Lighter, Typhoon demonstrate that rock music is still capable of tackling the big questions intelligently. And in the process they produce a very enjoyable album.
Artist:
www.wearetyphoon.com/
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Album:
White Lighter is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
