Anathema — The Optimist

Symphonic Rock superstars Anathema release a follow up to 2001’s A Fine Day To Exit sixteen tears after the fact. A belated sequel to an artists early work rarely works, Eminem’s Marshal Mathers LP 2 springs to mind, however here it does, for the most part.
This album is a concept album, detailing the adventures of a man who has left his wife and family and pick up where the cover of A Fine Day To Exit left off, the husband leaving the beach and deciding where he moves forward in life. This is an album about memories, resolve, love and distance. Anathema return with their symphonic musical soundscapes that made 2014’s Distant Satellites such a compelling album. (And my album of the year for that year, at the time at least.) Strings, and pianos litter the vast majority of the album creating a cacophony of beauty. Anathema were always masterful composers and this album is certainly no different. The Lee Douglas lead “Endless Ways” is a highlight, of a lover lamenting her loss over the aforementioned husband leaving her. Her performance, as always, is sublime; as well as anywhere else she id featured on the record, in my opinion one of the best female voices in rock today.
The album sweeps along detailing the story of the record and what the husband chooses to do. Regret and sorrow are sewn into the fibre of this record, and there is a real sense of progression in character and in a more physical sense as the track titles show the journey that the husband undertakes during the course of the record. I won’t detail much more of the story to leave you to experience it for yourselves, but it is genuine and emotional. The lyrics, while melodramatic (which isn’t always a bad thing!) encapsulate this tale well, though not exceptional.
The Cavanagh brothers have always been solid vocalists, and they continue to be though I do often find they are overshadowed when they share a song with Lee, but in this record they don’t share songs that often. Obviously it would be weird if they did considering the nature of the record, but Lee does come in “The Optimist” as an ethereal spectre, in the back of the husbands mind, haunting his decisions and convincing him to take action. It’s well done and communicate it’s point rather clearly for a rather abstract concept.
Although I briefly touched on composition before I must reaffirm how well composed, and how well paced this album is. Anathema use every tool at their disposal to craft their songs. Anthemic guitars, subtly infused synths, low-key strings, droning bass. It all blends to create a progressive, desolate soundscape to put you in the head-space of the husband, the fear, sadness, and at times the anger all get represented here. Just when you think they have exhausted what they are doing a soaring guitar passage enters and kicks the whole song back into gear. However there are a few missteps. I feel like the piano is used a tad too much on the album. Whilst never overwhelmingly overbearing it does start to get a little grating when most Lee Douglas lead track open with a few minor key piano cords that repeat through the song. Also there is another track that seems out of place in the record; “Can’t Let Go.” It begins with some really obnoxious guitar riff and really just devolves from there. I get what they were going for, but it disrupts the flow of the record and honestly adds very little to the overall story or theme of the album. Also I can see how people would find the album a little repetitive on first listen, it does reward repeat listens where you pick up more of the compositional depth of the tracks, but the first few listens can leave you feeling a little too accustomed to soft synth, soaring string type tracks.
Overall Anathema put out another solid record. It tells a simple story well and offers some truly great songwriting. The lyrics do the job well though fail to offer something truly memorable, and the compositions are great but often retread similar ground, and when they try and break away from that it gets a little disruptive of the records flow. Great vocal performances from Lee Douglas binds this album together well even if they are infrequent and the Cavanaghs do a solid job on their end as well. It’s a good record, not as good as Distant Satellites but by no accounts a misstep either. Check this out if you want to hear some symphonic rock with a cohesive narrative.
7/10
