This is a bit of a bittersweet write-up, as this might the Fragile Canyon's final release.
For those who don't happen to be in the loop, Fragile Canyons is an indie rock quartet whose name (and memes) usually precede the music they make. Earlier this month, it was announced that the band would be going on an indefinite hiatus because vocalist and guitarist Andy Engstrom is moving to Switzerland for the next three years. While the future of the band stays up in the air, they decided to grace us with one final release, Lavender.
The release lulls you in with a false sense of security during its title track. "Lavender" feels like how we wanted the summer of 2020 to go. The track's twinkly guitars play with jam band grooves to create a free and easy love song. A midpoint solo is tight but still meandering, keeping everything light. Just as you settle in for a relaxing listening experience, the band switches things up.
Opening with a dissonant clang, Fragile Canyons launch into their next song "Border," which plays off themes from their previous release Here It Is. The song digs into the ideas of there is no ethical consumption under capitalism and how far people are willing to go in order to get ahead. Engstrom is almost accusatory when he asks, "Would you leave your own mother to die at the border?" while lamenting "oh's" float behind the chorus. From here on out, the band doesn't beat around the bush - everything is bad and certain people are trying to make it worse. "Cielo" feels like the fallout from the previous track. Relationships have changed as friends and family learn where their beliefs lie. The song is built around a repetitive instrumental that leaves the listener going round and round as the band queries, "I don't think that how to get into heaven?" Eventually, the band breaks the cycle and spends the last half of the song on a guitar solo.
Lavender isn't quite all doom and gloom as the band works back into their more jammy elements. "Mannequin Mirror," with its hazy folk inklings, gives a slight reprieve from sobering reality. Amanda Snyder joins Engstrom with gentle backing vocals; the repeated "do right's" really pop. The ballad's velvety keys and acoustic guitars build for one final "it's all you can do" from Engstrom before fading back to the subtle whisper it grew from. The band doesn't go out quietly as they wrap up Lavender with "Charlie Horse." Like its namesake, the closer is tense as Fragile Canyons reckon with the fact that those in charge don't have our best interest in mind. Engstrom goes back and forth between the tedium and absolute fear of waiting for the end. The track's descending guitar riff adds a bizarre jovial air to a song about the potential end of the world, making it hard to not bop along while considering impending doom. As it closes out, "Charlie Horse" breaks into one final jam where harmonized lines from guitarist Nick Baker and Engstrom build to a tense ending that never quite resolves.
While leaving listeners with a sense of unease wouldn't work in most situations, Fragile Canyons does it in a way that leaves things in a bow. In his farewell post, Engstrom called Lavender "the best record [the band has] made so far," and I completely agree with that statement. They took where Here It Is left off thematically and combined it with their folk-rock roots for a release that feels like the best representation of the band.
Lavender is out now. Listen and/or buy it below.
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