Art Brut
Frontman Eddie Argos highlights the band’s goofy, hyper-pop sound with a surprising amount of emotional depth on It's a Bit Complicated
By Carlye Wisel
Published: June 20th, 2007 | 3:44pm
From the first glance at the lyrics of Art Brut’s latest album, It's a Bit Complicated, it's clear that lead singer Eddie Argos' life has been just that. Departing from lighthearted topics — such as puppy love and relocating to the West Coast — that were featured on 2005's Bang Bang Rock and Roll, the British frontman now chant-sings about the insecurities of meeting up, hooking up, breaking up, and everything in between. Marked by a contemplative look into Argos' dramatic love life, Art Brut's newest release has further defined the band’s super-pop stylings with a certain post-heartbreak maturity that is all their own.
In a heavily accented, slightly monotone voice that sounds more like speaking than singing, Argos references bits of troublesome situations throughout Complicated. Whether he's trying to keep a lady in bed for a few more minutes ("Blame It On the Trains"), contemplating breaking away from a kiss to adjust the music ("Pump Up the Volume"), or worrying about a girl not wanting to get busy before bedtime ("Jealous Guy"), the entire record emotes a sexed-up quality that works surprisingly well for Art Brut.
Through band members Ian Catskilkin and Jasper Future’s poppy, guitar-led melodies of these narrative songs, it quickly becomes both inferable and obvious that Argos' love life is quite tumultuous — something he doesn’t deny. "I love to get drunk [and] go out, when I break up with somebody," he says in a June 2007 phone interview. "I walk on the beach, smoking a cigarette, drinking … and going, 'Oh, my life is so bad!'"
By channeling these complications through music, deeper, possibly more depressing lyrics interestingly contradict the overzealous tone that had previously trademarked Art Brut's sound. "The last two songs I wrote for the last album were 'Emily Kane' and 'Rusted Guns of Milan' — two very personal songs," Argos says. "I got way more into that kind of writing with this one."
Creating music with such personal content, though, is no challenge for Argos. “It's cathartic, to be that honest," he says. "Writing those songs sort of uncomplicated me, let me get my opinions straight." One of the album’s standout songs, “People In Love,” highlights Art Brut’s charm and cheeky lyricism by opening with the statement “People in love lie around and get fat / I didn't want us to end up like that.” Argos, whose goal was to write a truly honest breakup song, paints an all-too-real picture of a relationship's end while bluntly uttering, "To every girl that's ever been with me / I got over you eventually” in its chorus.
In addition to a shift in their lyricism, Art Brut’s actual recording process of It's a Bit Complicated was also dissimilar from Bang Bang Rock & Roll. "It's quite a lot different," Argos says. "We sat down and wrote this one as opposed to recording the songs we'd been playing live.” By doing so, drummer Mikey B, bassist Freddy Feedback, Catskilkin, and Future create more depth within their instrumentals, a clear result of having spent additional time composing the album’s material.
While Bang Bang featured lyricism trademarked by heavy repetition, Complicated displays a new depth of songwriting that exhibits a clear growth and departure from previous simplicity. Between Argos’ husky, accented singing of lost loves and love making, it becomes apparent that by describing Art Brut's sound as "very honest pop music," he's speaking the truth once again.
Issue #35
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