Jordan Klassen – “Big Intruder”
Album Reviews | Oct 4th, 2017
Record Label: Nevado Music
Genre: Indie Folk
Band Link: jordanklassenmusic.com
Buy on Amazon.com
I’ve been a fan of Jordan Klassen’s music since his album Repentance and it’s been cool to see him grow as an artist since then. His latest album, Big Intruder, is more of Jordan’s trademark falsetto mixed in with various genres.
From listening to this new album a few times, two bands pop into my head when listening to it: The Shins and Abba. Not sure why but that’s what Jordan’s new music reminds me of. A cross between James Mercer’s earlier Shins work (“Hard To Please”) and this 70s European pop music like Abba (“Dominika”). Maybe he was listening to them or something when he was writing the music for Big Intruder.
What I love about Jordan’s music is that it can be poppy yet hauntingly beautiful for some of them. It doesn’t feel all smug like some indie music can come across sometimes. “Yer Cure” stands out because of the orchestral arrangement from the start of it. It then goes into echoey, indie track that has that 70s Euro feel to it again. It’s the little things like the background instruments that makes me feel that way. The title track “Big Intruder” is a multi-layered song that has the same style for a few minutes, then stops and goes into another style. I liked the last part of the song when it changes direction. It’s funny, it’s reminds me of the song “Black Sheep” from Walk Hard. A song where Dewey Cox was just experimenting with everything, poking fun at Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys during his Pet Sounds days.
I would say the only downside to this album, there doesn’t seem to a standout single. There are some very good songs on here, but there isn’t that 1 song that screams, “single!” With his last 2 albums, there was “Horses are Stuck” and then “Baby Moses” on his last album. I still prefer his last two full-length albums to this but happy that Jordan is churning out new music pretty quickly. He did just release a new EP called curses earlier in the year. Even though there isn’t a standout single on this album, doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s a strong album but I still prefer his earlier albums over this.
Bottom Line: Every time I listen to this, it gets better and better
Notable Tracks: Hard To Please, Same Thing Over and Over, Yer Cure, Big Intruder, HotShot Runaway
Overall Rating:
