CAR287 – Looking Through the Lens
On their latest album, Looking Through the Lens, the Canadian rock band CAR287 takes us on an wild journey. Feelings of both hopefulness and hopelessness, anger, and heartbreak bubble up – examined from multiple lenses, both within the self and others. Here’s a little more from frontman Jay Yarmey about how the album came to be:
“This album is about perspective – how we see ourselves, our families, our city, and the memories that shape us... It’s rooted in Winnipeg and in the experiences we’ve lived, but the themes are universal – everyone can find a piece of themselves in it.”
“Opening Song” is, self explanatorily, the first track on the record. It intrigues the audience with the anticipative hook, “dreaming of pulling away from here.” The passion within the track could inspire just about anyone to make a positive change in their life. In fact, while you listen through Looking Through The Lens, the modern edge and electrifying feeling of the album is part of what makes it so special. Standout tracks such as “Ain’t Nothin Now,” and “Feel It Coming On” exemplify stunningly entertaining instrumentals that will keep the listeners fascinated. For the most part, the album is fast paced, keeping the content extremely refreshing and fun to listen to.
Despite the fast pace of the album, the lyrics can get pretty heavy. “Back and Forth” is a song about fighting internal battles and struggling to keep going. With lyrics like “fighting the back and forth,” and “beating yourself up more and more, struggling to get up off that floor,” the track encapsulates what it’s like to feel stuck in a moment, or even in a phase of your life. “Passing of Days,” the closing song on the album, represents similar themes. The solemn sounding track starts slow and sad, differing from most of the songs on the record. The piano plays softly and beautifully, representing how it feels to go through life without knowing any purpose or hope. Devastatingly perfect lyrics capture this feeling: “not knowing your fate,” and “slip and you fall with your best foot in spite of it all.”
The album also explores feelings of anger, like “Road Rage,” starting off with a hard-hitting drum beat and electric guitar. The song could be interpreted as literal, or, as using road rage as a metaphor for the singer’s love interest, who won’t “use their signal” or communicate. This song is comedic yet angry, which can be tough to pull off, yet, CAR287 did it perfectly. Fittingly, you may even find a loose car theme across this collection of songs – most notably, the raucous highway anthem “Highway Strong.”
Although the album has some pretty heavy topics, a lot of them are camouflaged by the expeditious rate of the album, along with some irony and humor, giving it layers. This record has the perfect combination of fun and upbeat tracks, to slow and dignified ones. Overall, this album can be recommended to anyone, in any mood, so take some time to listen to the highly anticipated Looking Through the Lens when it comes out September 20th.
If you’re in the Winnipeg area, CAR287 will be performing a hometown album launch show on September 20th at the Times Changed High And Lonesome Club with an afternoon performance at Into The Music Records.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Kennedy O'Brien