Damien Jurado I Break Chairs Music
by Damien Jurado

About this Music

Heading off in yet another new direction with his 4th full-length, Damien Jurado has assembled a full band for I Break Chairs. And, the results here are twelve new songs, full and alive, with jangling guitars and rolling drums carrying Damien's inimitable sense of narrative and powerful vocal delivery. Thematically, Damien visits ground fans will be familiar with: friends disappointed, abandoned whores and mermaids, boys ditching their girls, a modern-day love story rife with juvenile delinquency. Produced by David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), the new record shows Damien still capable of breaking more than chairs, so watch out for your heart.

Like Mark Eitzel and the Red House Painters, Damien Jurado has made a name for himself by writing fairly melancholy pop tunes. Over the course of five albums, Jurado has authored enough sad, dark stories to strike a chord with Nick Drake fans and leave listeners' hearts very heavy, but he hasn't really done anything new with his work. I Break Chairs is a different step in Jurado's career, as he brings in a full band (Gathered in Song) that mixes the moody melodies up with slightly higher-energy indie rock tracks--but the overall vibe is still as sedated as his early stuff. Chairs just kind of ambles along without really going anywhere--even when the tempo changes from pastoral folk to buoyant rock, the song always seems to sound the same. Fans with the "if it ain't broke" attitude toward Jurado's music might find some hidden gems in this album, but for catchier mood-swinging indie pop, releases from Death Cab for Cutie and Beulah are better choices than Chairs. --Jennifer Maerz