Dan Campbell and co. reach new narrative - and emotional - heights on new LP.
In January of this year, Dan Campbell announced that a third Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties album was coming, and since then it has been one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. I'm happy to say that the day has come, the album is here, and a new chapter in the Aaron West saga has arrived. Now the third LP under the Aaron West banner, and presumably the finale in a trilogy (maybe?), 'In Lieu of Flowers' is the definitive Aaron West release, and one of the best in Dan Campbell's ever growing discography.
If you're at all familiar with Aaron West and the narrative that Wonder Years front man Dan Campbell has spun around him, you know that things are heavy, emotional, and often times explosive. It follows the story of a man down on his luck who just needs to catch a break. It's a rewarding listen for longtime fans of the project, and ties up many loose story ends that have been around since the first album.
Musically, 'In Lieu of Flowers' borders on the edge of emo, country, and indie rock. The arrangements at play are pretty vast and full. There are horns, pianos, guitars and lap steel, and even more hidden in the mix. It's a really great combination and allows for some pretty free and hard hitting songwriting. On 'Spitting in the Wind', Dan Campbell's intense and fiery vocals tell the tale about a drunken night that ruins the biggest shot the band had. 'I'm an Albatross' follows that up with one of the most heart wrenching and emotional songs in the entire Aaron West discography, and stands as a turning point for Aaron and the story. A hero's lowest of the low, if you will.
No matter the song, Dan and the band bring their all to the project, and the result is a wonderfully executed and performed album. While it may teeter on the edge of being melodramatic at times, it never fully falls into that category, and the album has enough variety to carry the heavy lyrics and themes. 'In Lieu of Flowers' is also one of the most realized and narratively strong concept albums you'll hear in the modern age. Every line and every moment that would be otherwise innocuous is almost certainly part of the wider story being woven. The chorus of 'Alone at St. Luke's', for example, features the line "As long as we're still here, we might as well be drinking." While in the moment, it seems like a cathartic release of energy amongst friends, it plays into the drinking problem we soon find out Aaron has. The LP is full of references and lines that take on a new slant once the album is finished.
If you are a fan of any of Dan Campbell's work, this will undoubtedly be right up your alley. It's emotional, heavy, intense, and raw. I'm happy to say that it passed even my relatively high expectations, and is the definitive and most fully realized Aaron West piece to date. I highly recommend it from front to back. It's a journey, and one that I'll be going on again and again.
Standout tracks: Listen front to back :)
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