It would take too long to get into what I love about the Seinfeld reference A Weather has made with the title of their sophomore effort, Everyday Balloons. But if you’re familiar with the show (and if you’re not, I’m kind of impressed) then you know the kind of understated brilliance that made it so popular. Yada, yada, yada, long story short: You don’t need a plot to make a sitcom, and you definitely don’t need a special occasion for balloons. Combine that reference with the supple veneer of A Weather’s arrangements and it’s easy to think of their music as mellow. The deceptively simple cover hides an infinitely more intricate book than judgment might indicate. The truly amazing thing about this album is that if you really listen, and crank it up a bit louder than seems necessary, Everyday Balloons takes on a much more anthem-like aesthetic. This album plays equally well softly trickling from your earbuds as it does streaming out of open car windows in the first warm days of spring. That kind of duality implies a certain depth to the music which lends itself to heavy rotation on the playlist.
A Weather's 2008 debut, Cove, proved to the world that a previously unknown band deserved every moment of their Bright Eyes opening slot in 2007, and a job with the singer's label Team Love. Cove reminded us that slow doesn’t have to mean sad.
Nothing about A Weather's sound is forced, which is saying something considering the genres in which the band is dabbling. It never feels like they're trying too hard, like Stars or Snow Patrol, despite the vocal similarities between Aaron Gerber and Gary Lightbody. They never feel too heavy, like The National, though they try on “Seven Blankets.” They don’t get overly cutesy, like The Brunettes or The Ditty Bops, although I’ve read that the alternate album title for Balloons was 1,001 Adorable Similes. With their follow-up they take a big step toward becoming reference points of the genre, like Belle & Sebastian or Iron & Wine.
“Third of Life” starts Balloons off with, if not the best track on the record, then at least the most aggressive one—well, musically aggressive. Vocally it’s a charming, folksy duet about a couple generally coming to terms with life and love. This is one of the tracks you’re going to need to turn up. Somehow Adam Selzer’s production (re: M. Ward, The Decemberists) gives a crackling reverb that brings the song to a close with a certain delicacy. In a lot of ways, “Third of Life” is reminiscent of Wilco or Yo La Tengo’s spacier distortions, especially when it comes to the meshing of soft and loud. The playful little piano bridge into “Winded,” and the mantra-like chorus “all that I need is to steadily breathe in and let it out slowly” brings us back to the lighter side of A Weather, which is an important element of the music's duality. The vocals are breathy as ever, but there’s less of a Lightbody feel to Gerber’s voice. The softness is more genuine and less like stylized whispering. Sarah Winchester’s voice blends with Gerber’s so well that it’s like watching a movie where you know the male and female leads will wind up together. They’re like a backwards Mates of State with Winchester on drums, but the chemistry is the same.
The song “Seven Blankets” is by no means aggressive, but it’s even more ambitious than “Third of Life.” “Third’s” six-and-a-half minutes feel shorter because of the transitional construction of the song as it expands, and the same is true of “Blanket’s” five and a half minutes. The line between keys and guitar is blurred throughout the album, but especially here. The slow-burning melody timed off by what sounds like the ringing of a church bell gives way to more lush instrumentation, with a line that pretty well sums up the feeling of the track (or album, really): “Just before the pipes froze, I ran the faucet and filled the tub.” Aside from eloquently capturing the essence of their sound, this line is also pretty exemplary of the comfortably domestic metaphors that color their sound so deftly. “Midday Moon” and “Newfallen” demonstrate this theme with lines like “You once were a dish sponge, now you clean tiles in the bathroom where sponges go to die” and “Oh, how fun that we get to be alive at the same time.” On paper it’s hard to get past how silly it is, but on the album it just works.
“Winded” and “No Big Hope” portray the hot and cold tendencies of A Weather. Whether anthemic or mellow, the bittersweet lyrics mainly revolve around aging and regrets. The beauty of this album is in the pacing, and the tracks flow effortlessly into one another and have the ability to console even as they depress. “Midday Moon” feels like Winchester alone with a piano, while tracks like “Third of Life” sound as though there are about a dozen people in the room.
Cove fit more comfortably into the chamber pop category, but Everyday Balloons really tests the limits. It’s smart, sweet and soulful without being hackneyed or self-indulgent. These aren’t party balloons, they’re everyday balloons.
Track List:
1. Third of Life
2. Winded
3. Ducks in a Row
4. Seven Blankets
5. Midday Moon
6. Newfallen
7. No Big Hope
8. Fond 4
9. Happiness
10. Giant Stairs
11. Lay Me Down
