Cease to Begin

Before I make my list of best records of 2007 (which of course I am going to be doing) I wanted to comment on Cease to Begin, the new record from Band of Horses. The band started out a few years ago with their breakthrough Record, Everything All the Time, it received huge accolades and Best Record of the Year nods. Hailing from South Carolina and transplanting in Seattle the record was made and distributed through Sub Pop Records. To follow up the big release comes Cease to Begin, their sophomore release, and recording back in their hometown in South Carolina.

I struggle with this band from time to time. I think the riffs and melodies are pretty simple, yet the lyrics and the hooks are something that catches my ears and helps me coming back for more. I think this record is really pretty. It's lyrics include ideas about love and life, even admist the pain and the brokenness. The brokenness of life seems to be pretty adherant yet there seems to be some hope. Hope that there are other people and that the world, that is so often demonized, is actually a beautiful place. I think when I listen to this record I come away feeling hopeful that there is something bigger than me out there protecting and having me see with new eyes.

The album itself is pretty short, about nine songs, and towards the end a lot of the songs start to blend together. Yet there are two songs that I can't stop listening to. The first is "Ode to Lrc" that drops the chorus as:
The town is so small
How could anybody not
Look you in the eyes
The way that you drive by

The world is such a wonderful place
The world is such a wonderful...

Here is a video of the song:


I think I love music that reminds me that life is beautiful or it can be beautiful. That it tugs on some strings that reminds me that I am still alive and that I can have feelings and emotions, not be a robot or a perfected being. I think sometimes life and expectations turn you dull but hearing a record like this one, even for the first three songs, is worth the download. Will this record be on my Top 10...I'm not sure but there is something beautiful about someone singing "No one is going to love you more than I do."