Label: Lewis Hollow

Release Date: Oct. 17, 2006

Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
Matthew Ralph

It's been a solid decade since Jeremy Enigk has released any solo material so to call this latest offering a sophomore release for the veteran would seem to put it in the inappropriate category of potential sophomore slump.

Besides, Enigk has remained busy in the last decade recording with the reunited Sunny Day Real Estate — his first solo record "Return of the Frog Queen" was recorded after SDRE's first break-up — and the Sunny Day Real Estate 2.0 band Fire Theft.

The past 10 years have also seen the annoying rise to the point of ridiculous overkill of the "emo" scene Enigk's high-pitched emotive voice is credited with popularizing back in the first half of the '90s. Of course, the "emo" referencing "In Circles"-era Sunny Day Real Estate is merely a footnote on Wikipedia these days considering where the subgenre/fad/Hot Topic clothing line has come.

For those who recall the enthusiasm surrounding Enigk's first record and still listen to Poor Old Lu's "Straight Six" EP just for the moment when he sings "in the darkness and strife finds an empty wanting life" on the song "Digging Deep," this record should be a welcome piece of nostalgia.

Unlike the legion of devoted fans who may still wax poetic about how "Diary" saved their life — I wouldn't know who to include in this category since I haven't seen Enigk perform in any fashion since 1999 — my interest really dropped off with "The Rising Tide" and I couldn't tell you off the top of my head how many albums The Fire Theft have released much less song titles or albums.

That said, this record has represented a kind of repentance after years of backsliding for me. Something about that voice and the sincerity of these songs takes me to another place, just as "Return to the Frog Queen" and subsequent demos of "Asleep Under Last Week's News" did all of those years ago.

Here it's the booming organ interlude of "Been Here Before", the brooding piano of "Hard to Explain" and the contemplative lyrics of "Damien Dreams" that raise the hairs on my forearms. The arrangements, the lyrics and that voice, oh that voice, create a charming warmth that's both, as the song suggests, hard to explain and hard to dismiss.

Like running into an old friend you thought you might never see again — and by running into I mean in person, not via random stabs in the dark at social networking sites — Jeremy Enigk's new solo record possesses an uncanny ability to bring you back to a time that's not so bad remembering after all.

posted [09.23.06]

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