Album Review: Censored Colors

A detailed analysis of Portugal. The Man's Third Experimental LP

Sep 15, 2008

Alaska-based Portugal. The Man puts a more melodic sound on their new CD, Censored Colors. In doing so, the alternative/experimental band manages to keep the album sharp.

Still hot from their2007 hit Church Mouth,Portugal. The Man has moved to Equal Vision and put out another full-length album—their third in three years. Censored Colors, released September 16th, cools down the volume and introduces new elements to the band's music. The album puts more emphasis on melody and technique than sheer bombast, which is a radical change from Church Mouth and Waiter: “You Vultures!” (2006)

While the record has some flaws, the Wasilla-based band has taken great effort to make it sound excellent. All fifteen tracks give Censored Colors a congruous flow, and the energy of the album fluctuates in an unusual yet effective way, enticing listeners and keeping them entertained throughout.

From the very beginning, Censored Colors promises the listener a completely different listening experience from Church Mouth. While the latter featured cryptic progressive rock similar to Led Zeppelin or The Mars Volta, Censored Colors starts out relatively simply.

The opener “Lay Me Back Down” is an assertive mix between piano ballad and hard rock anthem, complete with hand claps and singalong vocalization. Singer/songwriter John Gourley—also the band's guitarist—seems to be more direct in this album, begging the listener to “listen to the world”. This naturalistic theme appears throughout the album—as on “Created”, where Gourley speaks his knowledge of creation and death—and with it comes less distortion, higher vocalizations, chants, and an overall flowing feeling.

Another difference in the album's sound is the expansion of instrumentation. Whereas their first two albums gave priority to Gourley's distorted guitar and Jason Sechrist's heavy drumming, Censored Colors feels largely acoustic.

This gives way to the utilization of various keyboards, organs, percussion, strings, and brass instruments—in addition to clearer vocals. This might sound like the album is a crowded mess, but keyboardist/percussionist Ryan Neighbors does a good job of sharing the spotlight with the various cellos and trumpets that appear on the album.

Portugal. The Man Reject Comparison on New LP

While the first half of the album may invoke comparisons to either heavy Zeppelin or naturalistic Iron & Wine, Censored Colors reaches a consistent pace after an interesting “Intermission”. “New Orleans” is backed by a free-time jazz trumpet, and it sounds vaguely as if beat poetry were mixed with The Sound of Animals Fighting

(Portugal. The Man are close friends with TSAF and often remix each other's songs). From there, the album almost restarts, shedding its acoustic coils and lashing out with screams and heavy guitar. But the overarching theme of Censored Colors remains, as does the miscellaneous instrumentation (“Never Pleased” in particular culminates with a chorus of violins).

A final striking feature of Censored Colors is the cohesiveness the album possesses, especially on its second half. While the songs on the first half all have a toned-down feel, the second half shines in that it runs like one 25-minute song rather than eight separate ones.

There is a certain duality here between songs like “Colors” on the first half and “Our Way” at the end. Consecutive tracks “Hard Times” and “Our Times” resonate with each other and remind the listener that all must deal with the times. From the trumpet wails and growing aggression in “New Orleans” to the closing track “Our Way”—a song which is reggae-like in nature—Portugal. The Man manages to combine variation with continuity in order to create an incredible ending to Censored Colors.

The album may be a few notches down in terms of noise and abstraction, but the overall clarity and themes of this album allow Gourley and the band to hit home.

8.75/10—Censored Colors is a big step ahead for Portugal. The Man. The band has cleaned up their sound and put together in little over a year an album which picks up where the success of Church Mouth left off. The CD feels natural and flowing, and it both touches and improves upon every imaginable facet of the band while adding new tricks and a variety of instruments.

The copyright of the article Album Review: Censored Colors in Alternative Music is owned by James Blake. Permission to republish Album Review: Censored Colors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.