The Posies - Every Kind of Light

Critical darlings of the 90’s pop scene have returned after a long hiatus with Every Kind of Light. Being a fan of this group since way back to their first release on Pop Llama, it was a return I had most anticipated, but perhaps it was in not being able to relinquish the mythical rock-and-roll egos built up by so much industry adoration. Maybe it was just in the paths that their individual pursuits took them after the “breakup” that caused the Posies’ newest effort to elude the strong foothold that could have brought them back into the public eye. After all, a renewed interest in the group at the dawn of the millennium was all based on the repackaging of old songs and Every Kind of Light is the first new material to be released by the band in nearly a decade. Almost immediately, the lack of cohesiveness in the music that often results from uncompromising changes in direction amongst its members is evident. Starting out a little darker than any of their previous releases with “It’s Great to be Here Again!”, one who has followed the band throughout the years feels the promise of a masterpiece that harkens back to the days of yore. But while there are a couple of notables on the album ("It’s Great", Conversations), the duo of Auer and Stringfellow seem to have lost everything that made the Posies what they once were. It feels as if both came to the table with different ideas and, unwilling or unable to find a middle ground, achieved results via coin toss – and this never works. As such, they continuously fail to deliver where once they had…in glorious form. On songs like “I Guess You’re Right”, and “Last Round”, where one would have expected from a band who once wrote so eloquently of the emotional depths of heartbreak at the very least a lump in the throat, the sensation seems unfocussed and, well…resigned. Historically, the Posies' ballads had a melodic sorrow that made the pain of their lyrics even more unbearable. This has been replaced by musical score seemingly influenced by being stuck in an elevator for days on end…or in the case of “Could He Treat You Better?”, tripping on acid with Pink Floyd playing in the background, which is not a particularly good way to lament about your romantic sorrows. As someone who has followed this band since the very beginning, I was really looking forward to the premise of Jon and Ken having taken their decade-plus of real-world experience back to the studio and collaborating on something that reached far beyond their early efforts. But Every Kind of Light falls way short of this. One can only hope, perhaps, that they rediscover the passion and influences of their youth or perhaps find an appropriate compliment in bandmates to re-ignite that charisma. But after so many years it becomes difficult to hold out hope (what is it they say about dogs and tricks?). At least they lay claim to producing four amazing albums that no one will ever come close to duplicating. And in that the Posies will hold, at the very least, a small legacy in the music world. []