CORAZONES

Well, if I thought that Sworn Virgins showed ORL going in a more accessible, digestible direction in a lot of respects, then Corazones just takes that whole idea to another level by ditching the abrasive textures and raw energy entirely, instead replacing it with something far closer to folky indie rock rather than anything that he's done before. It helps that the songwriting is pretty strong as well, once again having a keen ear for melody and taking that really, really far to craft some fantastic moments like Running Away and Sea Is Rising, while providing small bits and pieces that still maintain a hint of his usual quirkiness here and there to give it something a bit extra. This is particularly notable with the ending of If I Told You The Truth I Would Be Made Of Lies having its title repeated in a fashion that doesn't quite rhythmically flow in a clean way, feeling more like a big run-on sentence than anything else, but it's definitely a bit of a common theme throughout to have these short lived moments.

Despite my praises, I still think that this lacks in a few areas that makes it a listening experience that falls slightly short of greatness, particularly with the way that there are quite a few points where it feels clear that Omar was struggling hard with the whole idea of stripping back and simplifying his ideas here, as there are a few tracks that end up feeling a bit underbaked, as if the ideas he had sometimes hinged on crafting those more complex soundscapes and mysterious atmosphere and would've worked better if they had been used on a more traditional album from him. This particularly rears its head in the middle portion of the album where outside of Sea Is Rising, nothing really lands too well. Even so, this is still a great time and one that I appreciate in part because even this far into his discography, Omar Rodriguez Lopez once again shows another side to his songwriting and pulls off the style mostly with grace, despite some missteps here and there. Not really my first choice for an ORL album that people should immediately go to, but for fans who are interested in exploring the sheer range of his material, this is a good one.