But the record goes deeper than just an uncomfortable guy chafing against conventions. Gone are the political slogans of Mirage Rock’ s“ Dumpster World,” replaced by songs in which Bridwell incisively questions the institutions around him. On“ Hag,” he expresses hesitant devotion, but also shares his deep fears:“ Are we really in love, completely in love?” The question comes up again, on“ In a Drawer,” with the singer Sera Cahoone adding in falsetto,“ Do you love me, baby?”
“ There is that balance between this musiclife thing that we do [ and ] being a dad and a husband, [ and ] that balance is a bit fragile at times,” Bridwell says.“ It feels like we’ re always making up for lost time.”
ALTERNATE WHY ARE YOU OK ALBUM ART BY STEVE KEENE
“ There is a common link between all the Band of Horses songs,” he adds with a chuckle.“ Which is usually me complaining about something.”
Take“ Casual Party,” a song that feels“ definitely close to the bone.” It’ s about a dinner party— one that really happened— where Bridwell felt stifled by the conversation about television and hobbies. The band performed it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, packing three guitars while surrounded by weirdo Muppet-looking creatures.“ Awful conversation at the casual party,” Bridwell sang, chewing up the words.“ It never stops.”
The record offers no easy answers.“ Even Still” closes things with a foreboding line:“ I could just leave.” But conversation with Bridwell often circles back to family, both the one he has at his happy home and the one he’ s found in his bandmates. And there is some ambiguity, he admits, left in the songs for the listener to decide exactly how the story turns out.
“ I also don’ t want to put all my cards on the table and be like,‘ This is about me, here’ s what happened in my day.’ Like, fuck off, dude,” Bridwell says.“ That can be boring as well. You want to give the listener a chance to make it their own.”
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