By Erik Adams
For The State News
Words that describe The Fiery Furnaces: Innovative. Adventurous. Whimsical. Quirky. Progressive. Pretentious. Difficult. Frustrating. The band's new album is certainly all these things, some more than others.
With "Bitter Tea" released April 18, brother and sister duo Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger have created an album of pop songs wrapped in studio-crafted experimental trappings which is just as accessible as it is impenetrable.
Some of these trappings, like the Furnaces' schizophrenic songwriting, verge on decadent.
"I'm In No Mood," the second track on "Bitter Tea," runs through six distinct sections in the course of three minutes and 39 seconds. Why cram so many ideas into one song? Why not make these ideas their own songs? Isn't writing a song like this kind of like making a collage from pieces of six competent but unfinished paintings?
But before you get too worked up, listen to the song again. And again. Though an aggravating listen at first, the Furnaces encoded a method within the madness of "I'm In No Mood." The tunefulness of the longer sections shines through as well.
The Friedberger siblings have pretty serviceable vocal abilities, but recent evidence suggests that's not enough to whet their appetite for the avant-garde. The vocals on "Bitter Tea" are all their own — unlike 2005's "Rehearsing My Choir," there are no vocal cameos from grandma — but some are played ... in reverse.
The backward singing comes off as little more than a gimmick, except for its use in the surreal travelogue "Nevers." While describing a handful of cleverly named vacation destinations, Matthew and Eleanor trade syllables back and forth, with Matthew's contributions being played in reverse. The nigh indecipherable cacophony lends itself well to lines such as "There's a village I visit that's Vaguely/Sorta Vaguely/vaguely yes I seem to recall."
"Bitter Tea" is an album that begs to be decrypted. Even when they're not being sang backward, the Friedbergers' lyrics might require a decoder ring to be completely understood.
"I've got a special category business/down by the Multifunctional Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Rollerblade Rink/down by the Home of Bitter Tea," Eleanor sings at the beginning of the title track. You can ignore the fact that this makes absolutely no sense by turning your attention to the killer combo of Eleanor's lilting voice and its piano-and-synth-squeek accompaniment.
Eleanor and Matthew are at their creative peak when they don't let their urge to experiment smother their melodic abilities. The best songs on "Bitter Tea" represent this balance. And when they find said urge uncontrollable, something of worth is usually found buried under the tempo shifts, synthesizer breakdowns, cryptic lyrics and studio trickery.
