Bradford Cox is an enigma. Tall, pale, lanky and suffers from Marfan’s syndrome, Cox projects a mysterious atmosphere, an atmosphere of ambience and of the unknown.
He doesn’t look like a rock star, but in the indie rock world, no release was as anticipated as “Logos,” the second full-length album from Cox’s solo project Atlas Sound.
While Cox is best known for being lead singer of Deerhunter, he has carved a niche with his solo recordings, such as his first full-length Atlas Sound album, “Let The Blind Lead Those See But Cannot Feel.”
“Logos” did not come without its share of controversy, however. On August 16, 2008, Cox accidentally posted a link on his blog that lead to leaks of the unmastered version of “Logos” and Deerhunter’s “Weird Era Cont,” which was released on October 28th, 2008, opposite “Microcastle.” Cox was upset at his mistake and considered abandoning “Logos,” but eventually came around and built on the leaked version.
The product officially released, is some of Cox’s best work to date. Shedding some of the ambience of the leaked version, Cox reveals pop sensibilities that are full of emotion and deep meaning.
A prime example of this is the track “Quick Canal.” Originally a 13:22 instrumental, Cox cut the length down to a more manageable 8:36, while Laetita Sadier, from Stereolab, provides lyrics over a catchy bass and drum groove. Sadier’s vocals, while the words are barely discernible, are aurally pleasing and are used as an additional instrument in the musical process.
“Another Collaboration” is the highlight and best song of the album. Featuring a danceable beat, addictive keyboard samples, and questions of childhood, “Walkabout” with Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox will instantly be stuck in any listener’s head, no matter their musical preferences.
Lennox and Cox make the listener look inside himself and consider what has happened over the course of their own life, with questions like, “What did you want to see? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
After making the listener reconsider the past, the duo quickly advises the listener to “Forget the things you’ve left behind / By looking back you may go blind.” “Walkabout” is easily the most prominent track on “Logos” and was one of two tracks to be named “Best New Music” by Pitchfork.
The other track off of “Logos” to receive the “Best New Music” label from Pitchfork is “Shelia,” a ballad to a future wife. Not originally on the leaked version of “Logos,” the song has quickly become one of Atlas Sound’s most famous tracks, undoubtedly helped by the exposure from Pitchfork. “Shelia” is Cox showing emotional insecurities through a pop façade.
The crux of the song is “And when we die, we’ll bury ourselves / Cause no one wants to die alone,” a nearly universal sentiment. “Shelia” is the most accessible track of the album, as nearly all listeners can relate and one doesn’t have to have their heads buried in the sand to feel Cox’s emotion.
Cox continues to gaze at life through the rest of the album, with lines such as “And what makes you lie to me / I think your eye will reveal” on “An Orchid,” the album’s second track, and on the slow “Kid Klimax” like “You will grow to be / Untouched, unphased.” After getting through the depth and layers of the music itself, the listener is exposed to the depth and raw emotion of Cox’s lyrics, which can haunt the listener after he is done.
Cox ends “Logos” with the title track, where he debates the fate of spirits and examines mysteries he has encountered. His observations on the mysteries are profound in their simplicity when he sings “Everything makes sense when you look at it from another way.” He closes the album with the simple thought, “Spirits drifting in the night / Will they ever find their way?”
While on the surface, Atlas Sound’s “Logos” may seem too ambient, too out there, and too sophisticated to an average listener, but underneath the layers is the bedroom pop vibe, the feeling that these are the thoughts of a person. Cox, while reverting to these accessible feelings, still remains introspective and still provides the tough questions for the listener to consider. However, the question of considering is whether or not to listen to “Logos”. That has one simple answer: yes.
Daniel Gallen can be reached for comment at [email protected]