Danburry and team expand on the compelling uneasiness of last year’s album with an additional twenty-nine songs from the same recording session.
In his review last September of Icarus Phoenix’s latest release, “I Should Have Known The Things You Never Said”, esteemed colleague Jonathan Aird described the album as being “far from an easy listen”, not sonically, but rather the somewhat disturbing gravitas the narrative permeated throughout the ten songs enclosed. The album, recorded shortly after Drew Danburry’s divorce from his wife of 13 years, thematically mined the emotional dislocation of grief, angst, disconnect and depression as if in search of some cathartic release, yet still managing to be as much a compelling listen as a challenging one thanks in the main to the bravery and integrity found within the lyrics. Now, with this new deluxe edition of the album, Danburry and the band have delivered an additional 29 songs, astonishingly all recorded during the same 3-day recording session as the original release.
The first thing to note here is the running order, with only three of the tracks from last year’s release holding the same position. These include the opening song, which now goes by the abbreviated title of ‘I Should Have Known’, along with ‘High Tide’ and ‘Hatillo 2’, each delivered here with a slightly different mix from the original version, while the remaining numbers are scattered across the album with ‘The Sword And The Harp’ which had initially appeared as the penultimate song on the original album, now coming in as the 39th, and final track. This doesn’t just help to negate the idea of a chronological order to the ten-track version, despite the collective theme, but more importantly, it releases some of the initial album’s tension. That is not to suggest the narratives of the new songs deviate greatly, but rather offers a broader foundation for the storyline to become more elaborate, adding shafts of light into the dark.
Among the extra songs available on this deluxe edition, there are a number worthy of greater scrutiny, including ‘Old Sleep Singers’ and ‘Homeostasis’, which both expand on the thematic narrative, the latter opening with the line “I don’t trust happiness”, before later revealing “When I finish another song I feel complete”, that briefly offers an insight to the commitment Danburry brings to his craft. Elsewhere, both ‘Mark & Kyle’, a song that resonates close to the heart here at AUK, and ‘Stories We Tell’ step away from the main storyline to offer a more positive outlook. There is also space for a reworking of an old song with ‘Bright Eyes’ while the current single ‘If I’m Being Honest’ returns to the complexities of communication, and Danburry’s cynicism about our collective ability to do it well as we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. It provides another example of Danburry’s unique skill as a songwriter, full of raw emotion and sagacious depth.
Such is Danburry’s prowess with the pen, it would be easy to overlook the contribution made by both the musical accompaniment and arrangement, which would be wildly remiss, as continuously throughout both the original album and this extended deluxe edition, they either provide the perfect conduit for the often challenging narratives, or the juxtaposition, with pop sensibilities adding colour to the shades of grey. Whether it’s the crescendo building arrangement of ‘Necessary’ or the driving percussion of the energetic ‘Solitude’, the power chords on ‘Shallow Water’ or the off-beat reggae flavour of ‘Love’, every musical requirement is perfectly realised. To this end, much credit goes to the band members, who, as well as Danburry on guitar/vox, include Eli Simms on drums, Leena Rhodes on guitar, vox and synth, Brendan Russell on bass, and Peyton Rodeffer on guitar/vox, with additional drums and percussion supplied by Andrew Young.
This deluxe version showcases a remarkable strength in depth of new material, which, by definition, also raises an unavoidable question. There is, most definitely, at least a dozen songs that collectively would have made one very strong album, one that could have stood alongside its predecessor, working as a perfect companion piece, allowing these songs much-deserved exposure. However, as part of a sprawling deluxe triple album, one can’t help but wonder whether these excellent new tracks may well be fated for relative obscurity, lost amidst the endless reams of heartfelt poetry and consistently high levels of creativity.
Nevertheless, this deluxe edition of “I Should Have Known The Things You Never Said” is still an excellent addition to Icarus Phoenix’s canon of work. One, where those already familiar with the album will still find plenty to invest in, while those who missed the album the first time around can now take advantage of the plethora of extra material that the extended version has to offer.
