Album Review: Band Of Horses Why Are You Ok

The question-mark-free title of Seattle act Band of Horses’ fifth album – their follow-up to 2012’s Mirage Rock – is apparently taken from a cheeky email that one of producer Jason Lytle’s children sent to a primary school teacher. As for singer Ben Bridwell, the 38-year-old father of four seems to take his parenting duties seriously. “I work all night and then take them to school in the morning,” he recently told an EW.com interviewer. “I’m the fucking scariest dad in the school, I’m sure.”  
Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but there’s a definite suburban theme to this album – which opens with a gloriously slow burning seven-minute epic entitled ‘Dull Times/The Moon’ (“Setting sun, forgotten my wine/ put the garbage where it doesn’t belong...”).
Produced by Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle (with a little help from Rick Rubin), Why Are You Okay was largely recorded in a studio affixed to Bridwell’s family home. Occasionally he seems to be in two minds about the life he has chosen. First cut ‘Casual Party’ addresses the anxieties of polite social gatherings: “The job, the babble on/ the recreational hobbies/ No, it never stops.” Presumably he won’t be inviting the neighbours around for a listening session.
Of course, there’s more to this album than that, but the occasionally sentimental lyrics largely address everyday life issues (love, doubt, family, etc.). The melodic ‘Sitting in a Drawer’ is more of the sound of a man questioning his choices: “Do you love me? Which one is it?/ We should be living in a warehouse district... But darling, you know it shouldn’t be like that/ Can I go with you to the laundromat?”
Musically, despite occasional samples, the overall sound is indie rock infused with country/folk, with definite flashbacks to their previous four releases.
Fans certainly won’t be disappointed. To this reviewer’s ears, it sometimes sounds as though the members of Mercury Rev all got married, settled down, and relocated to the far outskirts of Nashville. Which isn’t a bad starting point at all.  
_Out Now

Rating: 7/10
Key track: 'Sitting In A Drawe'