Fiery Furnaces - I'm going away

It has been quite some time since the good siblings of The Fiery Furnaces gave us a fully accessibly record. Now I’m not saying the Widow City, or Bitter Tea, or Rehearsing My Choir are bad records at all, I’m just saying that they aren’t very easy to get into. Once you do you can totally fall in love with all the nuanced sounds and quirky lyrics Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger put into them, but it takes a good deal of effort to get to that point. Prior to those records The Fiery Furnaces were making weird, but accessible indie rock records like EP and Blueberry Boat, and I’m Going Away is closer to being in those veins then anything they’ve done in a while.

For starters the vocals are straight forward, handled mostly by Eleanor though Matthew adds some here and there for a little more depth. The lyrics are still more then a bit quirky, but also a little easier to decipher then they have been. Musically the album has a bit of a theatrical feel, prompted mostly by the use of piano on the record, but it definitely does have some rocking bits as well. It’s a deep, versatile record, like anything The Fiery Furnaces have produced with a lot of layers, but the first listen is so much easier then it has been.

I suppose that’s the gist of the record, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of their two landmark records but I’m Going Away is instantly more catchy and appealing to our ears then the last few albums were. Now I know that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but for me all of The Fiery Furnaces’ records have taken some time to truly fall in love with and I have feeling that will be the case with this one as well. Thought this one has made greater in-roads in much less time.
The Fiery Furnaces - "The End Is Near"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Keep Me in the Dark"