“We Don’t Need to Whisper” was wildly atmospheric and expansive in its sound.  In that vein, I have uncovered another jewel that is very ‘proggy’ and the Cure-like in its exorcise of its musical chops.

The Joy Formidable is a Welsh band that has found a re-creation of the underground alt rock meets progressive new wave stylings.  Formed in 2011, the band has just released its third studio album “Hitch.”  Now I haven’t heard of these guys before.  I just stumbled onto them one evening while I was listening to the alternative digital music channel.  Thanks to the Shazam app, I was able to ‘Shazam’ the song and download the album.  Music at my fingertips.  Needless to say, I’m impressed with “Hitch.”  I made the mistake of reading other’s reviews of “Hitch” prior to composing my own conclusions.  But I don’t feel like that has compromised my view.  Most of the reviews were consistent in their conclusions; The Joy Formidable is amazingly talented but came to market at the wrong time when listeners didn’t have the appetite for ‘proggy’ guitar-infused underground rock.  And second, The Joy Formidable’s first two albums were much more solid and unique.  “Hitch” is a retread of the original works.

Fortunately for me, I haven’t heard any of their earlier work so I didn’t relate to these conclusions.  “Hitch” and The Joy Formidable were an exciting new sound for me to hear exactly when I needed to hear it.  Once again, music marks the mileposts and waypoints in our lives.  Now I have very little to base my recommendations on here as I’ve not heard their first two studio releases.  I can only go on this album, which as I mentioned above has been deemed as the same old stuff.  I don’t know the old stuff.

What I do know is this stuff and I like it.  This isn’t pump up the party anthem rock.  It’s also not get your work out on music.  I wouldn’t recommend listening if you are trying to get pumped for anything.  It’s moody and ethereal.  This is pop your headphones on sit in a darkly lit room with a bottle wine breakup music.  Okay, I’m generalizing a bit but it is music you will find solace in because the lyrics are very relatable.

Maybe their sound is a little bit schizophrenic but that’s what is great about true musicianship.  It’s not type-cast.  It’s creative and morphs to meet the mood.  At times it’s gritty and loud with guitar-laden riffs that are arena-rock and smoke machine worthy.  Other times, it’s experimental but just melodic enough to be easy to listen to without saying “What the hell is this?”  And then on the next song it will be soft and acoustic.  And like a homeless meth head hearing voices in his head, the album switches insanely to an ethereal but bluesy song on the next selection.  One would think that this broad cross section of song types would not mesh.  But it does.  From start to finish as if it were telling a story, the album doesn’t lag back on the desire to communicate.  But to be fair, every song is a little long at 5 to 6 minutes.

Lyrics are emotive, clearly representing some relationship between the lead singer, Ritzy Bryan and bassist, Rhydian Dafydd.  While the lyrics don’t explore anything more than loneliness and breakups, they’re personal experiences we all can relate to.  But it’s the massive efforts of the music and its arrangement that I feel take these typical personal experiences over the top and make this a really good album.

I’ve picked two songs which I think capture the vastness of the album.  The first is “The Last Thing on My Mind.”  This is most likely the song that you will hear on the radio.  It was the song that caught my ear while on the digital music channel.  It’s the most driven and heavy yet catchy guitar riff song on the album.  Ritzy’s singing just floats perfectly over the driving music.  And I can’t tell if this song is about a breakup, a booty call, or masturbation (sorry sensitive readers).

Next is “Underneath the Petal.”  This is an acoustic, ever-increasing crescendo of a song.  It was hard to pick this over “Don’t Let Me Know” which is equally impressive.  I like my lyrics challenging and almost allegorical.  “Don’t Let Me Know” was too long and obvious in its writing.  But “Underneath the Petal” is epic in its writing both lyrically and musically.  Clearly about a breakup and clearly in pain, this song feels like a musical magic carpet ride to a dark place in our hearts.  We’ve been where this song goes.

To conclude, The Joy Formidable was a perfect experience at the time I found it.  And “Hitch” is a record to listen to when you’re in a mood.  It swirls with emotion in the lyrics and atmospheric riffs and strings.  Now I wouldn’t take a heavy dose of it and listen over and over again like you can with more disposable pop-driven music.  “Hitch” may not be their best work to date according to those in the music-know.  But I;m satisfied with the listening experience provide by this album.  But we like what we like despite what a critic may think, say or write.  After all, I wouldn’t expect you to come to the same conclusions as I do about The Joy Formidable.  I can only hope that we can share our inspirations with each other to learn more about each other and grow.  That’s the idealist in me.