This is the first in a series of 'essays' that will work as a discussion point as to what the albums of the British band Gomez are about. First and foremost, the majority of what I'll be writing about in these 'essays' is simple conjecture and most likely misunderstanding of what the albums are about - if they are about anything at all other than just being good music. Some of the thoughts I have about the albums are slightly informed by interviews from members of the band, and are therefore personal opinion reading into these interviews. I know for fact that some of the songs on some albums are not about what I feel they are about, yet I'll state my opinion about them anyhow.
I should also add that I'm not a seasoned essay writer so these ramblings may come off as little more than high school English song assessment writing. (Terrible fact: the song I chose in Year Eleven English to cover as an assessment of what the song meant was Tal Bachman's eternal 'hit' She's So High. My original choice was the simply way too easy Ana's Song by Silverchair. Tal Bachman's She's So High is still getting airplay to this day, whereas Ben Gilles is now best known as the husband of the woman that's on Real Housewives of Melbourne. See, I wasn't lying, that was a terrible fact.)
The first album I'll discuss in this series is the last (or latest) album by Gomez, Whatever's On Your Mind.
Track Listing
Options
I Will Take You There
Whatever's On Your Mind
Just As Lost As You Are
The Place and the People
Our Goodbye
Song in My Heart
Equalize
That Wolf
X-Rays
Options starts the album in fine form with an immediate hint to the earlier style of Gomez. The messy, not always perfect style of Gomez. A guitar misses a beat, there's a cough and then a beginning. It harks back to the 'confused now' of Sweet Virginia, the inhale and exhale at the beginning of Blue Moon Rising 'some people like that', the rambling talking and laughing at the beginning of Hangover. It harks back to what Gomez once were. It's refreshing to hear.
What follows is a rowdy pop song which translates to one heck of a tune live. On the surface, Options is a pop song about being your own man, about standing up and not taking shit. Beneath that though is a song which hints at what Whatever's On Your Mind is really about - depression. There are a few levels that Options works on; as mentioned, a pop song about standing up for yourself. It's also a song about the difficulty of being in a band such as Gomez, about not giving up. And finally, it's a reaffirming song about standing up and not accepting depression anymore.
The later years of Gomez have been difficult, there's no denying that. Split the Difference - a fine album which will be discussed later - was a breaking point album. Fortunately for the fans they didn't throw in the towel. Whether there is infighting in the band, or just plain old tour stress, it's hard to tell. Options deals with that perfectly - 'I never wanted to change you, I only wanted to share'. It talks about the difficulty of deciding whether ending a band is the right move or not. Going and becoming a business man who soullessly sucks money from people is an option, but having this band means they have the option to continue doing that. They could throw it all in, never having truly reached the top and return to their parents house with nothing.
Options talks about the desire to succeed, to make it big, to become an idol, somebody or something that people look up to. It's about accepting whatever failures or troubles the other people in the group have and giving it a shot. The most telling aspect of Options being about the desire to succeed, knowing full well that the talent is there to succeed, comes in an alternative edit of Options where Ian sings 'I'm going to do the only thing that I know, get the boys back together for one last shot at the big time, that's ok, at least I've got options.'
Options is also the most radio friendly song the band has had in a while. It's a catchy song that has a great beat and is very easy to listen to. It's no wonder that it marked the first time the band appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
It's telling that some members want to continue and make it to the top again - whilst touring Whatever's On Your Mind Ian Ball was successfully crowdfunding his next solo album Unfold Yourself via a pledgemusic campaign. Whilst it's not possible to tell who writes the lyrics for each song as the band is collectively credited as writers for the songs, one could hazard a guess and say that Ian had a strong hand in writing Options. On his Australian solo tour in 2013, he performed a version of Options which included those original lyrics about getting the boys back together. Gomez were on hiatus at the time (and still are at time of writing this essay).
So Options is about the band wanting to return to their Mercury Prize winning heights, but it's also about taking a stand against depression. It's about saying, yes I can be the guy who lives at the end of the street who is a little bit crazy and yells a bit, who most likely deals with depression, and that's ok. Depression is an illness that is devastating, but it's an illness which is accepted. Options talks about not accepting depression into your life anymore. It's about saying that you have options and you can be that successful business man. However, it also talks about the recurring nature of depression. About starting over and over again. Having to learn what depression forced you to unlearn. It's about being a beacon for others who suffer from depression and saying, yes, you can get through this and become someone that people can look up to.
Whatever's On Your Mind becomes an album about dealing with depression and about people trying to help others deal with depression as it flows through into I Will Take You There. A song which is relatively bare at first, but Tom's perfect singing carries the message of how devastating depression can be. I Will Take You There is about having someone to carry you through the depression - to take them away from the brick walls that are breaking down in their mind, to take them away from the waves that keep crashing in their mind and tearing away rational thought. It's about asking for help in times of need, shooting up a flare for assistance.
The way it builds into a crescendo of 'can you pick me, let me in and take me out' and the response of 'I will take you there' is quite something, especially when played live. It's the slow build of the oncoming anxiety attack, and then the crash of it hitting and the knowledge that someone may be there to help.
I Will Take You There flows into possibly the most literal song of the album, Whatever's On Your Mind. The title track talks quite explicitly about letting the depression or anxiety just flow away from you. The most honest and decent people can be brought down by depression, and Whatever's On Your Mind yearns for them to just simply let go of the depression and hold onto what makes them good because before you know if, the good person that's inside will be consumed whole by a terrible disease and the ones who love them will have lost them forever. It's about assisting those in need.
The video clip for Whatever's On Your Mind is a beautiful clip - one that works perfectly alongside their earlier video for We Haven't Turned Around - where the band are on a ship and the water is flying in their faces. Most effectively halfway through there is a shot of a woman with her back turned to the camera (either that, or Tom's hair suddenly got a lot longer) and then cuts to the boys singing with open arms, as if they have become the sirens calling her back to them.
Just As Lost As You Are is another reassuring song about saying that even though you may be going through depression, you aren't alone as there is always someone who is going through something feel better. The kicker about this is the question asked at the end of the song, 'does it make you feel any better?' Unfortunately, Gomez doesn't have answer to that question at all. The slightly hopeless 'hope it makes you feel a little better' feels pathetic, but it's sometimes the only comfort that can be provided.
Just As Lost As You Are is possibly one of the darker songs that Gomez has written in a while (at least since the spousal abuse ballad Fill My Cup). Depression can hit anyone, and Just As Lost As You Are talks about finding about someone else who has depression - a friend, a loved one, someone you look up to - and how easy it is to not notice that someone suffers from depression. Waking up and finding that the depression is still there, that it's not going anywhere.
Again with Place and the People, the lyrics suggest a fracture in the band. On the surface, it's a simple love song about people making mistakes and having those mistakes being accepted. It's a wonderful companion to How We Operate's girlshapedlovedrug - also sung by Tom. But it talks about the new beginnings which Gomez has tried to carve for themselves, the breaking of bread. What happens though when the new beginnings fail? When a band is fractured across the world and tries to remain whole? The bread goes stale, the relationship with people sours.
The Place and the People no doubt suggests at band members wanting to move apart and play with other people, or by themselves at least. Both Ben and Ian released new solo albums - and great ones at that - a few years after Whatever's On Your Mind's release. Was this the creative release they both needed to continue on with Gomez? Only another Gomez album will tell us whether this is the case or not.
As with some of Gomez's songs, The Place and the People is a song which is just ok on the album, but as a live song where the guys are playing as a group is where the song truly comes together. The harshest criticism against Whatever's On Your Mind is that it feels at times like a distant record, a record that was made without the members being in close proximity. During the production of the album they talked in interviews about creating the album across countries, and whilst the band can be commended for making the album in a difficult circumstance, it's noticeable how the lack of a close proximity to each other had affected the album.
Next up is Our Goodbye - a song about escaping, about wanting to get away from the curse that is depression. To be honest, for me it's a song which is usually skipped. It's not a bad song, but it's not a song which calls to me like the other songs do. At times, I get a little concerned that this is a song which hints at the end of Gomez. That it hints at people (as a group) breaking apart and forging a journey for themselves with their lover by their side.
Song in My Heart is a curious beast of a song. Alongside Our Goodbye, it's a pure love song. Gomez haven't particularly been known for writing love songs or ballads, but here one is. What's so curious about it is that it marks one of the few times that a Gomez song has been used for a commercial - to be honest, I couldn't name any other commercials that a Gomez song has been featured in, however there are many films and TV shows that have featured the music of Gomez.
Where some bands would say that having a song featured in a commercial is a signal of creative bankruptcy, it's worth noting that previous Gomez tour mates The Black Keys went on to have great success by having their music feature in a few commercials. Whether there was hope that a Ford commercial would help to boost the sales of Whatever's On Your Mind or not, is not certain. It's a boost for the band to have that recognition, even though it may not have flowed into having new fans or more sales. (A subject which will be discussed with How We Operate.)
Equalize is a funny song. From the demo tape to the final version, it's the song on the album that has the most distinct difference. The demo tape version sounds like something that wouldn't have been out of place on Ian's solo album Unfold Yourself. It's a political protest style song, but in the way that suggests that what they're protesting against is not a war or a government (like the great In Our Gun), but more protesting against the music giants who control where the money goes. Essentially Equalize (demo) is saying that no, nobody in this band will be substituted for anybody else. Everyone in this band is equal.
The demo is also the most British Gomez have ever sounded with the second half of the song coming across like some kind of New Order/Oasis beast. It's at once shocking because the sound of the singing is so different, but it's also one heck of a great difference. It's a wonder how the album would have been received if they went down this path for the album. No Gomez album feels the same, that's for sure, but if the band followed this path for this album it would have been truly different.
As it is though, the album version of Equalize is just as good as the demo version of Equalize. It's a showcase for Ben's perfect vocals and once again is another love song. Where Our Goodbye and Song in My Heart are unmistakable love songs - although many find their own story in Our Goodbye - Equalize is a love song which brings the albums theme of depression back.
'She's gorgeous when she sleeps, be careful not to wake the monster' feels like it's a slight on woman, but in fact Ben's singing about how escape only comes during sleep. What makes Equalize a profound song - especially given how it changed from the original version - is the rage that powers the song for the most of its length; the rage that lies beneath the eyes of the girl sleeping. In a way that only Ben can, he carries the song perfectly with his gravely devastating voice singing about how he wishes that the one he loves could stay in the safe world of dreaming instead of having to wake to the nightmare of depression. And then the key change - a key change which works so perfectly alongside Chasing Ghosts With Alcohol - hits and Ben goes soft and smooth, almost like a lullaby, and his gravely voice drifts away to become a soothing tone. Seen this way, Equalize soon becomes the most devastating song on the album - there is no escape from this disease.
That Wolf has a disconnect between the lyrics and the music that echoes the way depression causes people to twist words, to push people away. That Wolf tells a damning tale of what it's like to live with someone who has depression. It talks about how depression cuts a hole in a relationship. The words that can be said by someone with depression cut deep. The music is cheerful, however the lyrics talk about love not lasting forever and how the wolf of depression is right there behind, chomping, just waiting to devour the relationship whole.
And now, X-Rays. The strength of Whatever's On Your Mind lies - in my opinion - solely with X-Rays. It's the heart of the album, even though it is the final track. It is the closing statement, it is the summation of what has come before.
At its core, X-Rays is a surrender. It says, yes, depression is here and it's going to stay, but lets deal with it. Lets move forward with it. 'We didn't turn it on, but we can't turn it off' - it's one of the most haunting lyrics on the album, and it's one that could break you. But, X-Rays doesn't allow that to happen. A violin hits in - a rarity on a Gomez song and something that should be implemented more often (say, where are you visible brass section, are you still friends with the visible string section?) - and carries the song (and the album) to a new height. It carries it above the depression that existed before and once the violin has gone all that is left is a guitar and Ian's voice.
'It's time we made our final stop, and look for the air that is yet to be touched, by any other human being, being human'. There is a double meaning in this - the grasping for air from the gripping anxiety, and the destination of which the band Gomez has arrived. Where do they go from here? Is it their final stop, here, Whatever's On Your Mind? Possibly. Are they referencing themselves by saying that they need to look for the air that hasn't been touched by any other human? Two solo albums and no sight of another group album question whether Gomez will return again.
'Can we rediscover what we had? Oh, I never felt it dissolving, and it's nothing like we used to have, oh, we never saw it fading away, being human.'
Is it a call for an end? Or is it a call for a new beginning? There's talk of the distance between themselves not existing - and in a way it doesn't exist at all. The old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder is usually reserved for people in love, but a fifteen year old band is a fine replacement for that. Long distance relationships can be difficult to maintain, and no doubt the creation of Whatever's On Your Mind would have been a difficult thing to do - but as a fan and a lover of Gomez, one should take solace in seeing the band play live and see how all that difficulty fades away.
All this talk of depression and separation is a hard thing to digest and get through. Sure enough, Whatever's On Your Mind is not like any other Gomez album - just as A New Tide is far from their beginning of Bring It On. As the title suggests, it's an assessment of what is going on within the band, what is going on within their lives. Whether one of the members has depression or not, or whether they know someone with depression, it is not my place to say. I can't make that judgement. As I mentioned at the beginning of this essay, this is all just conjecture. However, this is what the album says to me as a listener, as someone who loves Gomez - and is coming up to ten years of having loved the band.
Recently I've asked myself, would I be fine if Whatever's On Your Mind was Gomez's last album. I've only ever answered, yes. Is it an appropriate finish to what is an amazing run of albums? At times, yes. Options and X-Rays both show what the band is capable of. X-Rays, as an epitaph, works perfectly. However, I don't want the band to break up and stop touring. If they have creatively run out of steam, then so be it - it can happen of a fifteen year career. Maybe the release of Ian and Ben's solo albums will uncover a new burst of creativity within the band - it's obvious that neither Ben or Ian can stop creating music.
Part of why I decided to write this series of essays on the albums of Gomez is to help continue the love I have for the band. To find new ways of rediscovering the music of Gomez. Maybe one day somebody will do a google search and find these essays and also discover the greatness of Gomez like I did nine years ago. It's a partly selfish way of discussing the albums of my favourite band and getting my views out there.
The other reason is because deep down I feel that Whatever's On Your Mind may very well be the last album that Gomez release. (Or at least, it is the last for a while.) With the band nearing the longest period that they haven't released an album, I felt that now was the best time to take a look back at the career of Gomez.
I hope you have enjoyed reading the first essay. The next album I will tackle will be Split the Difference - the first Gomez album that I ever listened to.
