By AJ Rekdahl

KOTO/Telluride High School

Work-Study Program

 

Robert Francis' new album Before Nightfall is an amazing accomplishment in the world of alternative rock. Not often one to be drawn in by the increasingly popular songwriting style of falsetto singers and trance-like music, I went into the album expecting little more than what bands such as Coldplay have done before. That was my mistake, thinking that Robert Francis was anything ordinary.

At age 22, Francis makes his official record debut something both heartbreaking and uplifting all in one. One reviewer, describing Francis' voice, called it "prematurely world weary..." and it most certainly leaves you feeling weary from the general tone of the album, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The first song, Darkness is a beautiful song that sets the tone for the album gently and allows you a great introduction into the turbulent stories that fill this album. Francis has a knack for lyrical writing; he describes his sceneries in ways that leave the images in your mind for hours after listening.

While I mentioned earlier that the music is very similar to Coldplay, there is a distinctive touch of country within the music that is refreshing and adds a sense of reality to the compositions. Francis also maintains a sense of emotional intensity that, even in his softest songs, makes Chris Martin seem like a speck of dust in the world of emotional music. 

He continues on to the song Junebug which lulls you into a trance with its bass-kick synchronization while Francis begins another story. Everything on this album is retrospective, and thus very poignant and somber as Francis admits in Junebug "You were beautiful then/ you're just a coke jaw now." The song is probably the closest thing to an energetic tune on the album. It maintains a sense of urgency even as Francis is describing an event he obviously cannot change. 

      The acoustic quality of this album is stellar and Junebug is a great example of it. Each instrument has its own space in the song and really holds a piece of the song. Francis' vocals also soar into the realms of only the most emotional singers. While he doesn't have a spectacular range or a powerful voice like many rock singers, his melodies bounce off the rhythm and are touched with so much emotion that every song is a triumph of emotion over technical talent.

      It is worth mentioning that though the album has many high points such as additional tunes "Keep On Running," "One By One," and "Hallways," the album does have some major faults. The songs "Climb A Mountain" and "I Like The Air" were moderate failures. They drag on and lose much of the focus and emotional attachment that draws you as a listener in. "Mescaline" has a bit of those problems in the first verse, but after the first chorus, listeners remember where Francis is writing from and everything suddenly comes back into focus.

      In fact, the second side of the album had only one misstep. The song "Do What I Can," while intended to be a touching acoustic ballad, falls very flat. The production quality of the rest of the album is missing and the strong and emotional voice that we have come to know disappears. Now granted this song was obviously taken from his original demo recordings, but it is nonetheless a misstep to include such a song on this album, particularly as the last song.

      While Francis succeeds as a composer and lyricist his music needs to find more invigorating energy if he wishes to continue in this day and age. Nevertheless, this is overall a brilliant debut album that hints at the amazing future that Francis has in the industry.

Recommended Tracks: Junebug, Nightfall, Keep On Running, One by One, Hallways