one exam down...three to go...

a video for "chemicals collide" from 'meaning of 8'. the video gives you bits of a live show...it is quite an experience!Cloud Cult's new release, coming out on April 8th, following up to last year's "Meaning of 8", moves past death into the afterlife where Craig Minowa and company spend most of the album. The lyrics, though never exactly morbid int he past, speak of of angels and ghosts and conceptions of what happens to the body after death. Minowa's work is profoundly influenced by the death of his 2-year-old son seven years ago, and "Feel Good Ghosts" seems to be more of a resolution, although one still full of many questions and uncertainties, than anything we've heard so far, something like six albums later. He seems to explore a multi-religious and wide theological scope. The "story of the grandson of Jesus" watches as homeless man serves communion with cola and twinkies and asks, "will somebody show us the way?"The story-telling in the songs and throughout makes for a cohesive album. At times, the song is a story in itself with a complex lyrical structure loaded with content. In other places, Minowa uses repeating chorus lines to instill a dramatic effect (i.e. "It's what you need!" repeatedly screamed in track 8).Musically, "Feel Good Ghosts" seems to follow more from "Meaning of 8" than "Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus", although it remains distinctly 'cloud cult' as it relies on interesting electronic elements and features the trademark yelping vocals. The usual suspects were joined by a band of fresh aspects for the band. "The Tornado Lessons" evokes a haunted-house feel, complete with what can only be described as a ghost-punk/electronica frenetic frenzy, "teaparty through tornadoes in the middle of the night", leaving the listener, and Minowa, exhausted by the end. "Journey of the Featherless" has a plucky, almost-bluegrass sound. "The Ghost Inside Our House" features a pure acoustic, adding strings later, for a stripped-down, humble little tune, "we'll never give up wishing/that we live on in our song".The most welcome addition to the fundamental strings, guitar, and electronic stability was the strong presence of piano on the album. "Hurricane & Fire Survival Guide" begins with a lovely showcase, but underlying piano on many other tracks adds great depth and layering.The album ends with "Love You All", one of the most intriguing and furthest-deviating songs on the album. It starts out with cutesy, synthesized vocals, working up to a choir arrangement, being resolved in the organic, earthy tones of Minowa's voice in a lovely repetition of "I love my mother/ I love my father/ when it's my time to go/ I need you to know/ Love you all". Minowa finishes his contemplation on the afterlife by considering the earthly end and what is left behind.For Cloud Cult fans, this album provides a much-needed resolution to earlier works. The album works out very well as a whole concept. New fans will find an array of musical styles with a underlying theme to tie it all together."Love You All" and "May Your Hearts Stay Strong" stood out as the strongest tracks for me. I love the harmonies and instrumentation."May you lives be long/ And may your wishes all be simple/ And may your hearts stay strong"...a fun interview! 'the lyrics are very visual'...