Grade: 56/100
Despite the slight incoherence of the lyrics, Counting Crows’ new album “Somewhere Under Wonderland” has a more optimistic and relaxing quality compared to some of the group’s earlier work.
The album’s first song begins with a smooth jazz trumpet and piano duet that reminds the listener of sitting in a small café on a Sunday afternoon. But after the album’s opener, the next four songs are upbeat and enthusiastic. The general flow resembles a mixture of classic and soft rock, like a combination of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jack Johnson.
In fact, the album does not have a ballad until its last song, “Possibility Days.” This is unrepresentative of Counting Crows’ earlier work, like their 2008 album “Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings” which is packed with emotion-filled songs, almost lullabies.
The album’s most memorable track, “Scarecrow,” seems to break the mold of the band’s typical style and pushes the limits of their smooth rock status into almost alternative.
The song tells a story of trying to hold on to a love that is escaping or running away. The chorus pleads, “I wish you wouldn’t go, I got the arms to reach you, I am the scarecrow.” There is almost an underlying theme of being stuck in one place while all goods things run away or move through life.
Collectively, the flow of “Somewhere Under Wonderland” is well thought out; each song compliments the last. It is definitely the type of album that should be listened to in a car with the windows down.
But the album seems to be slightly rushed and shorter than a typical Counting Crows album. For example, their last album “Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow,” released in 2013, featured 15 tracks in comparison to this album’s nine tracks.
It seems there is a pattern with the Counting Crows — they push out an album every year without any kind of growth or change in their music. Most who listen to the new album would not find anything different in their writing with the exception of one or two songs, and that’s being generous.
Though “Somewhere Under Wonderland” is not necessarily a bad work of music, sounding kind of like Van Morrison for 20 years does not make the Counting Crows relevant or innovative.