Simple Math

Manchester Orchestra is a band that has grown very close to me over the past five years. Since their 2006 debut I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child, I’ve become completely encapsulated by every step the band has took. In 2009 they released Mean Everything to Nothing which not only cemented front man Andy Hull as one of my favorite songwriters of all-time, it also shattered every standard set before them by the lofty expectations of their debut in ferocious fashion. If there was any album that I was anticipating more than any other this year, it would have to be MO’s fourth full-length, Simple Math. No other group has come close to taking my ears (and heart) captive with such ease as this band and I’m happy to report that two years since they graciously became the heart of the scene, they’ve done it…Again.

In Simple Math’s 10 song, forty-five minute makeup, Manchester Orchestra rip through the most earnestly revealing and thematically fulfilling album they’ve put out during their still green career. Composed as a concept album documenting frontman Andy Hull’s near divorce with his wife, it’s hard to think of another time when Hull has made himself so deliberately vulnerable. The album’s confessional opener finds Hull lamenting “You’re probably too busy with your work. Or am I just excusing you for leaving me alone?” This theme of isolation is plays heavily throughout the album.