Life in My Twenties

It was 2007 when we last heard from The Masons.
In the 5 years that have followed The Masons have sharpened, honed and refined their signature sound.
They ask each song what it wants, and then give each song what it needs.
The results of “The Masons' Method” is Warm Days Long Shadows.
22 songs over 2 CDs, the new double album is permeated with songs about life in the 21st Century.
Warm Days features The Masons' rock 'n roll credentials with big guitars, pulsing drums (from Dave Narcizo of Throwing Muses) and anthemic choruses.
Long Shadows delves deeply into keyboard laden atmospheres, slow tempos, softly strummed acoustic guitars, and majestic vocals.
Warm Days Long Shadows is the perfect soundtrack for a summer's night, a winter's day or any weather pattern.


Review:

With the new release Warm Days Long Shadows, The Masons have created an atmosphere of wild spontaneity that remains as honest in sentiment as it does tonality. Warm Days Long Shadows pays homage to nearly every regal tunesmith ever aroused by the heritage of popular music. A record that was assorted at conception, The Masons' new double length release delivers like a mid-day rainbow. It fills the streets and invites every neighbor out to their front lawn to deliberate which disc they like best.

At first glance, Jordan and his party of musical compadres are setting fire to the sky. “Harvey Keitel” which opens the album surely sets the climate for the twister that is to break ground on disc one. By the end of the track Jordan is channeling the best of Ace Frehely while chanting “you’re so cool” to a crowd of new devotees as if this is his own 1978 solo venture.

With an affirming hand in the air, “Go On Without Me” declares that this band knows a thing or two about the landscape of a song. If The Mason’s penned a battle cry it would read: only quintessential melodies need apply. Bells, whistles and handclaps aside, every nook and cranny is precisely cast to retain the sheer expression of Jordan’s sweet talk. The chorus allows for as much arm-swaying as anything Fountains of Wayne have ever put to tape. Like halcyon days, bullhorn-style vocal treatments unite calmly with tambourine swipes, suddenly reminding us all what adult life really feels like.

Songs advance with similar posh production that is self aware in style as well as substance. A buffet of tricks, squelches, and whirring tricks of the showroom trade fit into a sonic mold of keys while other newfangled instruments are disguised as radical prototypes of an obsolete artistry.

After The Masons convince you to say yes to everything they’ve worked up so far, “Goodbye Andrea” feels like listening to college radio for the first time in your girlfriend’s dorm room. A traveling bass line is held together by the melody of a synth in new-wave style and fashion. Harmony remains constant while guitars twist like spaghetti around the fork of The Mason’s signature chord arrangements.

The disc ends boldly when the soulful force of “Wonderful Place To Be “ caters to an exciting departure in style, similar to Miles Davis during his “On the Corner” affairs and complete with birthday party handclaps.

The task at hand becomes perfectly clear by Disc 2. The Mason’s are now burning the candle at both ends. “The Only Way” witnesses the engagement of chiming guitars and electric piano with just the right amount of warble to make you want to sign up for Twitter and tweet the good news…you’ve found a record within a record. Disc 2 vibrates but never roars. A strummed guitar that plays hide and seek takes us on a journey with the windows down as The Masons roll through songs with an appreciation of the heart.

“Uninvited” puts back porch instruments into the forefront, sounding like a jailbird gone soft. He still smokes two packs a day, but he’s never doing time again. As we actually begin to sense the amount of collaboration behind this and every Mason’s release, female vocals serenade pedal steel and mandolin with a noteworthy fade that is more interesting than any of your bad habits.

Gleaming Mariachi-style refrains mimic the lyric in “Part of Life” as man and woman are finally able to ponder a parallel theme together. The understated beauty in vocal delivery sustains through a keen mix of 12-string guitar and percussive acoustic strumming.

“Find Your Way” plays out like Major Tom speaking in a language we can finally understand. There is success and a strong sense of optimism when reaching for notes that rest on the edge of being accessible. A renewed feeling of hope occurs when violins and shifting piano notes carry out the chores of our lives in the faithful outro.

Additional galactic interludes and orchestration back female vocals through parted lips and a repetitive melody line that can be memorized like the new username and password to your favorite website. The mammoth conglomeration that is The Masons ends when they bribe the neighborhood kids to sing along in exchange for an ice cream cone of their favorite flavor. Who’s to say if the majesty of this smashing collection of music is a result of micromanagement or if the involved symphonious disciples are to be held liable. There is not a conscious body that can resist the temptation of Warm Days Long Shadows.