ATP! Album Review: Benjamin Gibbard - Former Lives

The early release online of Benjamin Gibbard's new album has led to a bit of disappointment for some. Reviews were decent (aside from SPIN's passive-aggressive commentary), but it seems the expectation for Gibbard to live up to the holiness reached from The Postal Service and Death Cab's "Transatlanticism" fell hard on his solo release. He has also been the butt of a few jokes for insisting we start calling him 'Benjamin'...But going through heartache isn't supposed to turn you into a modest genius. You don't go through heartache to write a solo record, you write a solo record because you're going through heartache. And whether or not the record was intended for Benjamin to reach a new level of sophistication with his music or not, it's worth the over-analysis of his psyche revealed in these songs.

Many of the songs are quick – less than two minutes – perhaps quickly written off and recorded just to get it out. The fifty-second intro of 'Shepherd’s Bush Lullaby' knocks off a jolly, cloudy London a capella while overseas from a lover. But 'Dream Song' quickly assures the album doesn’t stay as optimistic.