After a year and a half of touring, Los Angeles act Great Northern is back with Remind Me Where the Light Is— an epic set of songs which reflect on the bittersweet taste of relief and loss one feels when returning home from a long trip. The album has the dreamy feeling of being in-between, of leaving something behind and struggling to find new direction. Just as experience sticks to you and changes you, so have the past couple of years changed and influenced Stolte and Bixler’s creative aspirations. Their new album is chock full of driving guitars and drums, breathy, angsty vocals, and lyrical intimacy — certainly a turn from the light, piano-laden dreamy pop of their 2007 debut Trading Twilight for Daylight. The fuzzy guitars and synths add fullness to the sound, but at times cover the personal nature of the lyrics, turning into extra baggage around the captivating vocals. Overall, the album is a perfect portrait of Stolte and Bixler’s self-proclaimed shedding of an old self and the transition into the new, and the search for truth in between.
The album opens with “Stories,” one of several super radio-friendly tracks. The beats are pounding, the vocals edgy, and the lyrics are thought provoking. “What do you want / What do you need / What do you get / What do you see” is catchy but not mindless. The tune is uptempo without necessarily being upbeat. “Houses” and “Mountain” each follow in the same manner: intensely driven power, but still dreamy and subdued. The restrained pulsing energy builds in these tracks to exhilarating climaxes that most fully epitomize the fascinating contrasts of the album.
“Stop,” “New Tricks,” and “Warning” slow things down with their breathy vocals and haunting production. These tracks reintroduce Great Northern’s use of piano, but in muddy and overproduced tones that, while not the band’s most pleasing sound, complement the darkness of the lyrics.
By the last track, “33,” all extra sound is stripped away to reveal a beautiful rawness comprised of Bixler, Stolte, and a guitar. “Now that we found our place, here today / I would follow you anywhere” is full of quiet optimism and contentment. The track builds with the addition of strings to absolute bliss, and it is here that the duo seems to have found their niche. “33” — a highly symbolic number, often standing for truth and the triumph of good — is fitting closure for such an intensely emotional album.
Remind Me Where the Light Is, though sprinkled with exciting and lovely moments, still is a bit lacking. The album is definitely a transition into new grounds for Great Northern, and though the tracks exemplify the band’s ability to expand their sound, hopefully we’ll continue to see even more expansion and growth from Stolte and Bixler as they continue their journey out of the in-between space and into the light.
Track List
1. Story (3:55)
2. Houses (4:17)
3. Fingers (3:51)
4. Snakes (4:23)
5. Stop (3:26)
6. New Tricks (3:21)
7. Mountain (3:24)
8. Warning (4:47)
9. Driveway (4:24)
11. Numbers (4:52)
12. 33 (2:55)
