{"id":614,"date":"2011-06-07T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/?p=614"},"modified":"2011-06-07T01:12:56","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T05:12:56","slug":"an-album-review-givers-in-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/06\/07\/an-album-review-givers-in-light\/","title":{"rendered":"An album review: Givers, &#8220;In Light&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"e26b170012445c56d240655bdd03f7bf\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: left; margin: 10px 10px 10px 0;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-5595881567027133\";\r\n\/* Medium Rectangle *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8584504377\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 300;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"269\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/03\/06\/savannah-stopover-preview-7-sanders-bohlke\/window-17\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/window6-e1299440530555.jpg?fit=67%2C77\" data-orig-size=\"67,77\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D40&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1244646881&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;38&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.033333333333333&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"window\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/window6-e1299440530555.jpg?fit=67%2C77\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/window6-e1299440530555.jpg?fit=67%2C77\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/window6-e1299440530555.jpg?resize=67%2C77\" alt=\"\" title=\"window\" width=\"67\" height=\"77\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-269\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>I&#8217;ve already mentioned the Lafayette, Louisiana band Givers a couple of times on this blog, including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/05\/16\/a-short-review-of-givers-just-how-good-is-the-louisiana-band\/\">a short review<\/a> of their great set produced by the Savannah Stopover at the Jepson Center after TEDxCreativeCoast.<\/p>\n<p>This week&#8217;s release by Glassnote Records of their first album, <em>In Light<\/em>, has generated impressive buzz, with one superlative being trumped by the next.<\/p>\n<p>The signature song is certainly the infectious first one &#8212; &#8220;Up Up Up&#8221;. As with so many other tracks, the furious percussion is in charge, while the airy, upbeat lyrics soar above. It&#8217;s a great opening, but its impact is lessened a bit by similarities to other tracks.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"619\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/06\/07\/an-album-review-givers-in-light\/dsc_0488\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0488-e1307389739860.jpg?fit=375%2C237\" data-orig-size=\"375,237\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0488\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0488-e1307389739860.jpg?fit=300%2C189\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0488-e1307389739860.jpg?fit=594%2C375\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0488-e1307389739860.jpg?resize=375%2C237\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSC_0488\" width=\"375\" height=\"237\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-619\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The chorus of &#8220;Meantime&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;Don&#8217;t get stuck in the meantime \/ There&#8217;s no such thing as the meantime&#8221; &#8212; reflects the joyous, seize-the-day energy of the album as a whole, but I found myself wishing for a few softer moments, like the dreamy finish to &#8220;Saw You First&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>When the two leads aren&#8217;t singing in tandem, Taylor Guarisco&#8217;s vocals take over more often Tiffany Lamson&#8217;s.  Guarisco has an almost adolescent giddiness, while Lamson sometimes conveys an easy sexiness, like at the opening of &#8220;Ripe&#8221;, one of my favorite tracks. &#8220;Atlantic&#8221; is another highlight &#8212; a song that gives Lamson&#8217;s lilting voice some space to resonate. When the beat picks up, it doesn&#8217;t feel forced or jumbled as happens at other moments on the album. Still, I&#8217;d like that song better if the vocals were pulled a little more forward in the mix.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"615\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/06\/07\/an-album-review-givers-in-light\/dsc_0474\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0474-e1307388814291.jpg?fit=350%2C246\" data-orig-size=\"350,246\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0474\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0474-e1307388814291.jpg?fit=300%2C211\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0474-e1307388814291.jpg?fit=594%2C418\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0474-e1307388814291.jpg?resize=350%2C246\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSC_0474\" width=\"350\" height=\"246\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-615\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m talking so much about the vocals because I wanted to hear more of them. <em>In Light<\/em> is brilliant at times, but it seems a bit overproduced and overcomplicated. Just because the talented band members are capable of letting loose on a variety of instruments drawing upon a variety of styles, that doesn&#8217;t mean that they need to do so in every song. <\/p>\n<p>And the emotional tenor needs more variation. Happy and sunny are fine emotions, but they lose their kick when there&#8217;s nothing to compare them to.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"616\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/06\/07\/an-album-review-givers-in-light\/dsc_0548-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0548-e1307389048829.jpg?fit=400%2C267\" data-orig-size=\"400,267\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"DSC_0548\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0548-e1307389048829.jpg?fit=300%2C200\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0548-e1307389048829.jpg?fit=594%2C398\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0548-e1307389048829.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"\" title=\"DSC_0548\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-616\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>In the wonderful song &#8220;Go Out at Night&#8221;, Guarisco&#8217;s vocals get a rare moment to rise above the complicated arrangements, and the song becomes one of searching and persistence: &#8220;I&#8217;ll go out at night and hope that the stars shine my life right&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>Well, it&#8217;s pretty clear that the stars are shining on Givers right now. But the music might get sharper and deeper if those stars dimmed from time to time.<\/p>\n<p>The entire album can be heard <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2011\/05\/30\/136650759\/first-listen-givers-in-light\">here<\/a> on NPR. <\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve already mentioned the Lafayette, Louisiana band Givers a couple of times on this blog, including a short review of their great set produced by the Savannah Stopover at the Jepson Center after TEDxCreativeCoast. This week&#8217;s release by Glassnote Records&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/06\/07\/an-album-review-givers-in-light\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[30],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSC_0548-e1307389048829.jpg?fit=400%2C267","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1gN9R-9U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}