The beauty of Dallas Green, the musician behind City and Colour, has always been in his simplicity. For so long, he succeeded with a formula containing just his impressive vocals and an acoustic guitar. After a bit of foreshadowing on the last album, Green’s latest release, “If I Should Go Before You,” represents a full abandonment of this formula.
Every artist is entitled to grow and transform their music. Most of the time this is encouraged. However, City and Colour’s latest album is a transformation that leaves so much behind and even more to be desired. The raw emotion of Dallas Green’s vocals used to be the distinction of City and Colour, but that vocal focus is a thing of the past. Now, all that can be heard is his voice fighting to keep up with the new, full band sound.
Opening track “Woman” is, for better or worse, a model of how the rest of the album plays out. “Woman” is a 9:16 dirge. Most people could run a mile before the song ended, though that’s not recommended because the song might put you to sleep mid-stride. Green is marking his territory with this track, letting everybody know times have changed and the droning electric guitars are here to stay.
After the nine minutes, the main realization is that “Woman” is the same song three times with some filler in between. 40 minutes later when the album is finished, the same realization stands in relation to all 11 songs. Each blends into the next at an unfortunately sluggish pace. “If I Should Go Before You” is a truly cohesive album due to its lack of a standout single. But while this normally indicates a success — evading the sad 21st century truth that albums are often a mere collection of singles — Green instead turns in an album of barely head-bop-worthy background music.
The talent in City and Colour, though, does not totally disappear. It’s just harder to find. Songs like “Killing Time,” “Wasted Love” and “Map Of The World” are brief flashes of potential within this new style. On “Wasted Love,” Green’s voice comes back out of hiding to carry the album’s most impressive arrangement. Meanwhile, the lead acoustics on “Map Of The World” are a harkening to the past and a breath of fresh air.
Calling this album an “identity crisis” would be going a bit too far, but for City and Colour, “If I Should Go Before You” is certainly one step forward and two steps back. Green progressed sonically but his true talent — his soulful voice and deft composition — got lost in translation. Steadfast City and Colour fans should avoid convincing themselves that this album is another brilliant output from Dallas Green and might be better off just listening to “The Girl.” On the other hand, those unfamiliar with City and Colour should go ahead move along. But neither party should give up on this band because talent like that of Green does not simply disappear, and hopefully it will return before too long.
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