David Bazan to Release 'Curse Your Branches' on 5th October
via One Four Seven Records September 4, 2009, 03:36 PM Views: 259
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 Having released records for almost 10 years under the band name Pedro the Lion – DavidBazan, decided to go it alone in 2005. A brave decision – PtL’s fanbase was reverent and hardcore, some saw the movement away from the Pedro moniker as a betrayal.
However, Bazan comes back stronger than ever before with this record. By far this is the most cohesive, expansive, honest and downright beautiful collection of songs he has recorded.
If you haven’t heard David Bazan’s name before, let alone any of his songs, chances are that most of your favourite songwriters from the last few years have. You can hear echoes of David’s influence through the plethora of great acts that have come out of America in the last ten years from the new folk heroes to the out and out anthemic songwriters.
This is his most autobiographical record to date. Pedro the Lion’s records often revolved around characters and themes that, although related to Bazan’s life, were a step away from his own world. This record is very much a reversal. In each detailed lyric, David has poured his heart and mind into each syllable often dealing with, in excruciating detail, his own faults, foibles and troubles. It’s largely a record about a broken relationship – but his broken relationship with his own beliefs and God rather than any human love affair. Even at its most difficult, it is one of the most heartfelt records that you will hear this year, even this decade.
From the first line of “Hard to Be”, the album’s opener, it’s obvious we are in the territory of a master lyricist –
“You’ve heard the story, you know how it goes. Once upon a garden we were lovers with no clothes. Fresh from the soil, we were beautiful and true, in control of our emotions ‘til we ate the poison fruit. And now it’s hard to be, hard to be a decent human being.”
As he continues his quest through himself – exploring his new found agnosticism, his problems with alcohol and his dedication to his family, we hear the work of a man unafraid to turn the mirror on himself.
A true masterpiece for 2009 'Curse Your Branches' is already garnering great reviews Stateside where Bazan is preparing for a 30+ date tour, he will be touring throughout Europe in January 2010 with full band - Eric Elbogen: guitar (Say Hi), Andy Fitts: keyboards + guitar (Aqueduct), Casey Foubert: drums (Richard Swift, Sufjan Stevens), Blake Wescott: guitar (long-time Bazan collaborator)
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