In the world of Indie music, where the increasing use of synth and digitization in it’s composition seems to be more and more each day, there are countless bands that cite the “go to” staples of such musical styling like Sufjan Stevens and The Postal Service as major influences. However, there aren’t many that truthfully can say they hold a candle to the intelligence and talent found between these two musicians. But somewhere in Kansas resides one singer/songwriter that can truly play with the big boys. (Seriously, someone call up Ben and Sufjan)
Sam Billen, formally of the decade long running band The Billions and newly solo artist, hails from Lawrence, KS, the last place most people probably think of when concocting a locale for making dreamy synth-symphonic music. None-the-less, Billen does just that, and with much aplomb. Releasing his first solo record in roughly 5 years, Headphones & Cellphones was put out via indie label The Record Machine in 2009- a new move for Billen, who had previously spent his music making years working with Northern Records.
Moving away from the poppy-Nada Surf-inspired indie rock of The Billions, and the quiet acoustic of his previous Tokyo EP, Sam’s solo work has tapped into a new vein rich with more sounds than one knows how to identify, soulful vocals, and lyrics that deliver a thoughtful personal narrative.
The first track of Headphones & Cellphones is sure to catch its listener off guard if they haven’t heard Billen in a while. In fact, to best enjoy this album we urge music fans to lay off any tracks until they have the complete set of 10 in front of them- each song is a specific ingredient, and while they might be tasty on their own, it’s not until the listener has them all simmering in one listening session that the true flavor and body of these tracks comes out.
“Bandaids” couples its guitar with smooth piano and synth, not holding back as it tosses in shakers, banjo, clapping, echoing “ah’s” and twinkling twilight sounds. While that may sound incredibly busy, and truthfully is, the approach in production Billen has made for this album allows all those little intricacies to weave together subtly instead of clashing against one another or competing for the spotlight. In this first track as well as in several others there’s a distinct shine toward R&B with the soulfulness found in Sam’s vocals, which we found to be completely refreshing. Far too often do singers making music akin to the indie synth-pop genre ignore the quality and style of their vocal patterns, allowing the effects and synth to dominant their song writing.
Effectively most of this album is an amplified reminiscence of what Ben Gibbard was doing when he began writing music for The Postal Service, but Billen does stray away from Gibbard’s style in his other tracks. There’s a distinct and rolling folksiness behind some of his music, such as the ending vocals in “The Garden” that wouldn’t be ill placed within an album from The Mama’s and the Papa’s or Simon and Garfunkel. There’s a continuation of classic era based influence in Headphones & Cellphones, from the 80’s keyboard ala Hall & Oates in “Different Lives” to the 70’s spin on modern synth that we find in “Sleepwalker” (Think about if the BeeGee’s and Ben Gibbard made a baby).
Our friend Sam also takes a shine toward more pop-ish musicians such as Rufus Wainwright and Darren Hayes, particularly in the title track “Headphones & Cellphones” and “Summer of 95’”. However, Billen is no one trick electronic pony and he effectively delivers a more stripped down sound full of warm, oaky guitar, piano and strings in “Choices”, where we also hear the greatest of Sufjan’s influence. As he whisperingly croons “Choices/ We make them all the time/ and those choices they can ruin your life”, vocally we get a combination of Midlake and a less melancholy Henrik Skanfors. We think that “Choices” is a beautiful slow down to this blippy and twinkling album.
Another track necessary to make note of is “Keep That Beat Going”, an anthem for musicians we’d put right alongside Owen Pye and the Sunday School Band’s “Success”, about the sometimes struggle filled but absolutely needed process of creating. “Give me one more chance/ Give me a chance to sing/Let’s keep the beat going/ Let’s just forget the scene/it’s about music/ and it’s about our dream” Initially largely carried by the vocals, with an extremely subtle use of synth and simple acoustic, the song flips as its vocals start to repeat their chorus and fall behind the shimmery effects of the song- just another example of Billen’s attention to detail in the production of these songs.
By and large this is an album that contains more sounds than a single listen can identify. While to some it may be distracting, and at times overwhelming on the listener’s senses, we feel that the point of this album isn’t to pick and pull apart each tiny idiosyncrasy. Listened with a collective appreciation for it’s composition, Headphones & Cellphones is an extremely beautiful combination of melodic vocals and electronic intricacies well worth any music lover lending their ears to.
Download Sam Billen’s Tokyo EP for Free
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