I had worried about this cd prior to hearing the first couple singles. Emily Kinney’s first two cds had been adorable, love-drenched pop without the manufactured feel of most pop music. The songs on those cds felt real. They were about toothbrushes abandoned at a lovers place (“Blue Toothbrush” on the EP of the same name) or a guy bringing another girl to what was supposed to be something like a date (“Julie” from Expired Love). Little moments of real life that feel like music you’d hear from a singer at an open mic night who you knew was about to get signed because they were way to good to be at an open mic night.
I was worried that feel would be gone from this cd. That the Hollywood music machine would have infected her and this cd would be a studio-written-dance-techno-beat fest. My fears were unfounded, thank god.
This Is War is the best of pop music. It’s what all pop music should be, sweet and fierce and fun.
The songs, when listened to in the order they actually appear, seem to tell a story. They follow a relationship from start (This is War) to finish (Molly). Then the end shows the sparks of a new relationship after the failure of the last. The final song, Weapons, is the Happy Ending, the new relationship working out. It’s like a fairy tale for a modern audience. At least that is how I see it. Maybe I am inferring things that aren’t really intended but thats what it sounds like to me. I always have loved fairy tales.
My only real complaint is that the cd didn’t come with a lyric booklet (yes I bought the actual cd) but that is more a complaint about cds in general now. They seem to rarely come with booklets at all anymore. I love reading the booklets. I always love cds that come with thick booklets full of photos and quotes and thank yous and lyrics. That never seems to happen anymore. *sigh*.
Buuut that is literally my only complaint. The album itself is perfect.
vexingcircumstance 