Words cannot describe the shock and pure excitement I had today when I opened up Youtube to see that A Lot Like Birds finally released the track “Trace the Lines”. If you have been following my coverage of A Lot Like Birds’ upcoming fourth full length album, “DIVISI”, you would know that not only am I extremely excited for this album to be released, but I also was most anticipating hearing the track “Trace the Lines”, as the teaser for it was simply blissful. Now, the single has officially been released, along with a music video to accompany it, continuing the theme of having every single released so far represented with a music video.
Harmonizing vocals and a slowly plucked, reverb-filled electric guitar gracefully start this track and instantly I find myself having goosebumps from the magnificent sounding first few measures. Out of nowhere, string sections emerge and I can instantly tell this track will surpass already high expectations in a remarkable way. Matt Coate and Cory Lockwood effortlessly trade back and forth as the first verse slowly fleshes out further and further as “Trace the Lines” builds up to the chorus heard in the teaser released months ago. Next, intricate drumming and a slight but noticeable emphasis of suspense is heard as the first verse is about to come to a close. The moment I heard the lines “I know it tore you up, it wasn’t by design” I uncontrollably starting singing along (at least attempting to) as I was overcome with complete and udder joy at how phenomenal this song sounds. From hear on out, the song itself is nothing but masterfully written. An earth-shattering, powerful chorus, slight but noticeable string section harmonies, and heartbreakingly honest lyrics like “I made you sick where I had meant to make you mine”, “Do you care that it’s over”, and “I said I loved you as a way to change the subject” help make “Trace the Lines” easily the most beautiful song I’ve heard this year.
The music video for “Trace the Lines” seems to be a sequel to the video of “The Sound of Us”, as it uses the same characters and themes from “The Sound of Us” video and the main character appears to wake up after experiencing the party and performance that he takes part in in the previous video. Also, I found it interesting that in the first video, the band is seen wearing white button up shirts, compared to the all black attire and the decorated masks seen in “Trace the Lines”. This could be symbolic of the relationship Cory and Matt are singing about coming to and end, or how the main character’s emotions went from joyous and happy in the first video to sober and depressive in the second. Regardless, after watching the first 3 music videos I have decided that “DIVISI” needs a video album to accompany it. Each music video so far has been rich with symbolism, solid acting, meaning, and an overall heightened representation of the tracks they accompany, and it would only make sense to now have a music video paired with every track heard on “DIVISI”.
At this point, I would do questionable things to hear the entire full length record tomorrow. I will of course be playing “Trace the Lines” non-stop until May 5th, but the fact that every song released so far is stellar leaves me dying to hear the entire project, as this will definitely be a strong contender for the best album released in 2017. If you don’t like the “DIVISI” singles, especially “Trace the Lines”, I simply do not understand your apparent odd taste in music. Check out “Trace the Lines” below and stay tuned for more updates, as we are less than 2 weeks away from its release date!
My last two posts about A Lot Like Birds:
“For Shelley (Unheard)”:
https://eriksalbumreviews.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/breaking-news-a-lot-like-birds-release-first-single-of-upcoming-fourth-full-length-album-divisi/
“The Sound of Us”:
https://eriksalbumreviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/breaking-news-a-lot-like-birds-release-music-video-for-new-single-the-sound-of-us/
“Trace the Lines”:
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