Day 1.095: Not without a fight

A short break from normal service.

Some time ago, I had the privilege of hearing The Cobalt Season play live, and their album 'In Search of a Unified Theory' was the soundtrack of the end of 2007. The first track on their new release 'Fragile Iconoclast', Coming of Age, ends with these words: Nothin' good ever comes without a fight.

Thanks to the CD/DVD format, we can both hear the good and see something of the fight that was needed to create it.

The stand-out track for me at the first listen was Water Rising with Ryan's familiar disquiet bubbling up: I was lookin' for salvation | not religion or a nation | where should I go? Elsewhere Ryan, Holly and friends bring us a different kind of angst. In Time Will Tell we taste the heartbreak of damaged relationship: You thought you knew me all along | but with a word I proved you wrong | with a word your silence fell... and concludes with the bitter-sweet observation: Time's a teacher never chosen.

As ever, this is not jolly feel-good music, but it is nevertheless curiously positive and uplifting. Over all, the seven songs of 'Fragile Iconoclast' form a beautiful piece of work and the accompanying DVD brings it to life in a wonderful and characteristically unaffected way.

If you have the time, why not watch, listen and, if you like, buy and let me know what you think.