Lemonade: Diver
Lemonade: Diver- Moving across the country and reinventing yourself entirely is not an easy feat, but the band Lemonade has seemingly done it effortlessly. Formed in 2005 in San Francisco, Lemonade is Callan Clendenin on vocals, Ben Steidel on bass, and Alex Pasternak on drums. After playing a mostly improvised first set, they realized they had created something pertinent and in 2008, they moved to Brooklyn and released their self-titled debut to critical acclaim. It would seem that one of the major reasons Lemonade is so successful is their ability to cater to a wide variety of music lovers. Their songs include everything from R&B cuts to sampling from the 80s but still remain true to their electro/indie roots. Devoted to doing just that on their new album Diver, each track in and of itself is unique, but the album as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Starting off a little shaky with ‘Infinite Style’, Diver first sounds like it is straight from the 80’s, and not in the retro-times-were-better-back-then type way. You can almost picture the band in their acid-washed jeans and neon cut-off shirts with the Flock of Seagulls haircuts. But this is quickly overshadowed, and the rest of the album more than makes up for it. Each song comes equipped with an instrumental prelude of sorts to facilitate the intended ambience. Ranging from sirens, to keyboards, to the hypnotic beat of drums, these intros have an enigmatic way of summing up the song and influencing the listener’s feelings all in the first ten seconds.
The first single, and possibly the catchiest song, on Diver, is ‘Neptune’. You will find the chorus playing on repeat in your head long after the song has ended: “let me speak to you, so I can show all I want is to sort this out.” One of the best songs on Diver is ‘White Caps’. The song feels like a love letter, and the inflections of Callan Clendenin’s voice enable the listener to almost see the emotions he is singing about. Lines like “I would listen to you breathing, it could help me fall asleep,” create the allure that the idealized version of love we all hope for is actually plausible. And that, in a sense, is what this album as a whole helps to create. In a world that often beats us down, with Diver, Lemonade offers a little bit of joy and an opportunity that we have all been waiting for: To dance to a really great record…9.4/10