On first listen, Everything Is Saved, the new album by David Wax Museum was mildly disappointing. Keep reading. Carpenter Bird, their 2009 release, set the bar high. Seeing David Wax Museum live creates unreasonable expectations for their recorded music. Nothing on Every Is Saved is as raucous as Colas or as beautiful as When You Are Still. Sure, Born With A Broken Heart demands your attention on the first listen and Yes, Maria, Yes is a favorite from their live shows, but overall it didn’t grab me by the ear and lead me to the dance floor like their live shows, and I don’t even dance. But on the second listen I became intrigued by Unfruitful. It starts with a gypsy fiddle over piano, that’s a sound I hadn’t heard live. On the third spin I get sucked into That’s Not True. I am emotionally invested in the broken love, rooting hard for love and convinced that love will win out, until the truth of the final verse. By the fourth listen I got past the fact the I had no idea what chuchumbe was and realized what I fun song it was. It’s one of the Mexo-Americana songs that make me love David Wax Museum. The fifth time through it occurs to me that Night Was A Car is my favorite song on the album. Any album that unveils its secrets this slowly and surely is a treasure.
The release date for Everything Is Saved is February 8th. Buy it. Listen and discover. The first few plays are exploratory. By the fifth spin it will be on repeat. By the twenty fifth spin it will be on your ten best albums of 2011 list.
