The Everybodyfields -- Nothing Is Okay

1997 was a good year. Radiohead released OK Computer, Modest Mouse came out with The Lonesome Crowded West, Ben Folds Five with Whatever & Ever Amen, and The Mountain Goats put out Full Force Gailsburg. It is one of those years that you look back on ten years later and talk about how good that cluster of music was. The amazing thing is, just as we are now talking about those albums, 2007 is looking to be a banner year as well. Feist dropped what looks to be my album of the year. The National put out Boxer, which is so damn good. Minus the Bear put out a remix album and will drop Planet of Ice in one week. Joanna Newsom gave all her fans a gift in her live EP, Iron & Wine are set to release The Shepherd's Dog, even though everyone who wants to hear it already has, and David Karsten Daniels flew under the radar with Sharp Teeth, a phenomenal album. There were albums from Dan Deacon and Bjork. The Bowerbirds' Hymns for a Dark Horse was tagged by John Darnielle as possibly his favorite debut release EVER. There were solid releases from The Avett Brothers, Andrew Bird, and Against Me! 2007 is almost too good - stuff gets lost in the mix.

And throughout all of that, there has been one release that I've kept my eye on as much as any - and it will move less units than any of the records mentioned above. The Everybodyfields, that friendly looking pair you see advertised at the top of this blog, are set to release their third album, Nothing is Okay, on Ramseur Records on August 21st. The Everybodyfields are essentially Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews, two alt-country songwriters from Johnson City, Tennessee. Sam and Jill are accompanied by a revolving cast of supporting musicians and have never had the same line-up when I've seen them play. There may be fiddle, electric guitar, keyboards, pedal steel, or just the two main bandmembers. However, it rarely matters - these two are always spellbinding in a live setting and are often adored by an ever present group of superfans.

On their previous two albums, Half Way There: Electricity and the South (2004) and 2005's Plague of Dreams, The Everybodyfields has stuck to all-acoustic instrumentation, save for a hollow-bodied electric bass. In fact, the first two albums are just acoustic guitars, electric bass, dobro, and fiddle. These two albums are solid pieces of work that are held together by Sam and Jill's amazing harmonies. Both singers have 'long' southern voices, with Quinn's being rather pronounced and warbly, and their affinity for slow waltz tempos aids in giving their harmonies lots of space.

However, Nothing is Okay is a departure of sorts for The Everybodyfields. The gorgeous vocals are still present. So are Sam's trademark songs in three. The difference lies in the instrumentation on the recordings. By adding a full, electrified band to their studio sound, the band has effectively created depth to their recordings. Instruments like piano, drums, and a reverb-drenched slide guitar are in the forefront on songs like "Don't Turn Away" and "Aeroplane." The fuller sound suits the singers well. "Don't Turn Away" and "Everything Is Okay" are perfect examples of how a fuller band with more volume allows Sam and Jill respectively to push the vocals harder. When the song is toned down, guitar and piano play more complimentary roles like in Quinn's "Birthday" where the warm guitar fades out just in time for the two singers to harmonize wonderfully. "Aeroplane," the opening track, is musically more mature than previous efforts, and stands out because of it. Both the winding vocals and chords make it a great song.

Nothing is Okay doesn't hit any wrong notes, but some songs feel rather out of place in the tracking order. After many listens, it is evident that the album lacks a true opening statement. While "Aeroplane" is definitely the best track in the set, it isn't quite what one expects from in a lead track. On Plague of Dreams, "Magazine" had the upped tempo and bounce, as well as being in four, to lead the album. The only song on the new record that sounds magazine-esque is the final track, "Out On the Highway," and it lacks the instrumentation that characterizes the rest of the album. "Everything is Okay" could possibly work, but it needs to be tacked on to the back end of "Wasted Time" to create flow. "Be Miner" is really the only song that doesn't sound great on the album, with a strange feel to it that doesn't fit with the general Everybodyfields sound.

The record teeters near falling into a take-turns for each singer record sequencing, and the front end trades some flow for doing so. The constant trade from Sam Quinn's waltzes to Jill Andrews' four-quarter ballads disrupts continuity. It is only once Andrews' "Wasted Time" is followed by the lovely and imaginative "Everything is Okay" that the album starts to flow seamlessly.

Even though it doesn't flow as much as I would like, Nothing is Okay is going to be one of the albums I remember ten years from now. In the day and a half I've had to listen to it, "Aeroplane" has already made it into the Top 25 Most Played Songs list on iTunes. This record is a major step forward for The Everybodyfields. The records are wonderful, and their live shows are a treat. I can't wait to see them at the end of September in Chapel Hill. The last time I saw them, everyone in the audience was handed a rose to throw on stage during the encore. It felt completely appropriate. Every time they open their mouths could be described as gorgeous. Go buy Nothing is Okay, and put it on repeat. Fall in love with the singer of your choice. Love them, and most of all, love their music. I do.