Take Care’s new album Somewhere Safe, released on January 10, is a collection of songs that — as suggested by the title — hopes to find a friendly place among a yet to be fully developed audience. While the band has gotten some decent buzz on campus as well as on the Internet by way of a plug on Indierockcafe.com, they have yet to truly emerge from the slew of music that most people their age are making. This is not for lack of talent or effort; Take Care’s latest venture finds the band, led by Kyle Joseph ’12, looking to make a place for themselves in the music scene.
What is not made immediately clear upon first spin of the new album, however, is whether these songs were written in the security of a “safe” place or whether the group is, in fact, longing for such a “somewhere.” A close listen of Somewhere Safe reveals that perhaps the band is currently fixed between the two. While songs such as “Orphan” and “Who” struggle with the idea of constructing and understanding identity, the more than competent musicianship of the group ensures that even with some considerable insecurities floating around in the lyrics, Take Care is at least sure of their music. And they should be. They can really play.
Somewhere Safe as a whole is dynamic and has the fullness of sound and texture that you would expect of a more mature and professional group. But if Take Care doesn’t exactly sound like your average college band recording in their dorm rooms, it’s because they aren’t. After receiving funding from a successful Kickstarter.com campaign, the group set off to record at DNA studios in New York, where industry heavyweights such as Vampire Weekend and The Strokes have also recorded.
This is not to suggest that Take Care is on that level. While the juxtaposition of soothing and tender music set alongside introspective and yearning lyrics creates the basis of a new sound for the band, it is not fully formed, and doesn’t quite sustain itself all the way through the album. The song “Lockjaw,” for instance, which boasts a punchy drumbeat and some cool effects, doesn’t maintain the same subdued feel of the rest of the record. This would be fine if the song held the sentimental weight that we see in tracks like “Who” or “Stranger.” But instead, Joseph’s voice and the track as a whole seem more Top 40 than indie, amounting to a more saccharine and pop appeal that listeners may find less consistent with the rest of their work.
The band is at its best when they move toward a more mellow feel. Standout tracks in this regard include previously mentioned “Who” and “Orphan,” which put Kyle and Dan Joseph in conversation both as songwriters and as brothers. In the first track Kyle, accompanied by chilling instrumentation, asks just “Who” his brother is. Dan, Kyle’s younger brother, responds with “Orphan,” which starts slow and builds to a yelling crescendo, reminiscent of some moments of The Antler’s Hospice, which Take Care later cribs — unintentionally — using a very similar staccato rhythm found in the song “Two” for their tune “Halfway House.”
The band demonstrates the diversity of their influences with another standout “Stranger,” which meanders its way along in an old school guitarist’s manner, creating a rather plush image as listeners realize that the song may not be as cheerful as originally imagined. These songs — “Orphan” and “Stranger” — which are written largely by Dan, demonstrate a new maturity in the group’s song writing ability as a whole, for while Kyle was previously responsible for the bulk of the songwriting, Dan really comes into his own on this album. This added aspect creates parity between the brothers. While listeners could rely on Kyle’s apt ability in songwriting, which came through in the demo teaser for Somewhere Safe, Take Care is now more of a full band. Electronic elements are at their best on “Hush,” — essentially a soundscape intro to the album’s last track “Flow Rush”— and it proves to be a promising and welcome prospect to Take Care’s repertoire. Though the band’s potential might not be fully realized on this album, there are elements of greatness here and it’s certainly a good listen.
Somewhere Safe can be found on iTunes and the band’s website at Takecareband.com.
