Everything (Not Really)

Sometimes music can save your life.

That’s what I hear in Michigander’s Over Before You Know It. These songs are filled with anxiety, depression, uncertainty, confusion and the feeling that you’re not quite sure where your life is going. But the music is almost ridiculously bright. The songs are catchy. The choruses are huge. Everything about this album makes you want to sing along with your entire soul.

I love when an album can wrestle with heavy stuff without letting the music get dragged down by it. Over Before You Know It is full of difficult emotions, but it’s also an absolute blast to listen to.

“Starting A Band” is a perfect place to begin. It’s a ridiculously radio-friendly indie-pop-rock song with a chorus that feels like a timeless classic. The lyrics are much more self-deprecating than the music would let on. There’s something almost funny about a song worrying about living an unremarkable life while being such a huge, memorable pop song itself.

That momentum carries into “Taxi,” another short, bouncy, hook-filled indie-rock song with the kind of groove that makes it impossible not to move along with it. There’s a playful defiance underneath it and a sense of freedom in not allowing yourself to be defined by outside voices.

“YYY” pulls the energy back a little, mixing R&B and soul into the indie pop. The chorus is still ridiculously catchy, but the lyrics describe a relationship that feels increasingly abusive and imbalanced. There’s something much darker underneath all that sweetness.

“Freaking Out” brings the electricity right back. Again, this sounds like a hit song. It’s immediately accessible without feeling disposable. The kind of song that comes on and you’re not skipping it.

Underneath all that energy is a song about learning to live with anxiety and accepting the emotional ups and downs that come with being alive. Maybe these feelings aren’t something you eventually grow out of. Maybe they’re part of the deal.

“Let Go of You” is the first real change of pace. It’s a tender, heartfelt ballad with one of my favorite vocal performances on the album. It comes across like a relationship that slowly drowns out the person you want to be, but I keep wondering if it could also be a struggle with yourself. That negative voice inside your own head that can hold you back.

Musically, it sounds like a song written by someone who grew up listening to Radiohead or The Flaming Lips, with fuzz, echo and shadowy vocals creeping in toward the end, giving the song a darker, more atmospheric quality.

“Good Things” takes a real turn musically. This is the first straight-up, fuzzy alternative-rock song on the album. The drums really stood out to me here. There’s a lot of reverb and distorted vocals, too, with production effects that make the voices echo and twist around the music. The lyrics explore the idea that success is random. You can work hard, do everything right and still fail.

The music gets a little more intricate on “Outlive.” It moves away from the immediate hooks of the earlier tracks and into something much more expansive, with a huge, swelling quality that feels like a real anthem. The idea underneath it is simple but powerful: you’re going to outlive the problems that are plaguing you right now.

“OH GOOD!” is probably the biggest left turn on the album. There’s a little funkiness and loose rock ’n’ roll swagger to it, while the vocal becomes almost conversational. It feels tongue-in-cheek as it runs through a list of things that aren’t really that good, cataloging everything that’s wrong with life while pretending to shrug it off.

“Float” might be the most earnest song on the album. Everything slows down and becomes genuinely beautiful. It’s another great, tender vocal performance, but this time the emotion comes from the idea of finding the right person to go through the craziness of life with.

“Float” bleeds directly into “Over Before You Know It,” which feels like the perfect ending.

It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous track.

Anyone who grew up loving 90s Brit-Pop is probably going to fall head over heels for it. The shimmering guitars, expansive production and perfectly raspy vocal all come together in a chorus that feels enormous without losing its intimacy. It’s guitar-driven melodic rock and pop with just enough psychedelia to make things interesting.

It initially sounds like a nostalgic anthem, but there’s something more reflective underneath it. Life is never going to be perfect, but your perspective on that imperfection can change.

Jason Singer has a really natural melodic voice that never feels overworked, and there’s an authenticity to the way he delivers these songs that makes every vocal feel right for the music. That quality is especially present on the finale.A

The album spends much of its running time wrestling with anxiety, depression, uncertainty, ambition and the ridiculousness of trying to figure out what the hell you’re supposed to do with your life. But it never gets buried under those feelings. By the time the album ends, there’s a real sense of hope.

Not the idea that everything is suddenly going to be okay.

Just the realization that maybe it doesn’t have to be.

Whenever I come across an album that can express that feeling, it makes me hopeful. Whether you’re writing the song or just listening to the one that speaks to you, music can help you find a way through.

Sometimes music can save your life.

Verdict: Great