My Top 40 Albums - #30

#30
Sixpence None the Richer - "Divine Discontent"

Year: 2002
Label: Word
Favorite songs: Melody of You, Tonight, Paralyzed, Breathe Your Name, Don't Dream It's Over
Lyric sample: "So I'm waiting by a phone / For the blessed ring / Like a holy grail / For a fisher king / Time is ticking down / Like a metronome / Rhythm for my brain / And its ceaseless scares / I never seem to play them to the beat I hear / Though my heart beat is a beat / That beats so near"

For some who know me well, this entry might come as a surprise, especially so far up the list. In truth, it debuted in the top 20 but I knocked it down a few places. This demotion comes in no part from a lack of quality on this disc, only that it's one of the quietest records on my list - second only, perhaps, to More to This Life - and I tend to prefer rock. It's one of the few pure pop albums that you'll find here and there's a danged good reason for that. This is quite simply the best pop album I have ever heard.

When "Kiss Me" became a hit, I was no fan of Sixpence the Richer. They wouldn't even have been on my musical radar. However, I saw them after Five Iron Frenzy at Agape Music Festival in Greenville, Illinois and heard the record during the trip. I was not excited about it, but I wasn't annoyed either, and I heard some things that I liked. Many if not most albums in this genre I find dreadfully boring, but Divine Discontent is a really different ballgame. There are several ingredients that make it stand head and shoulders above the rest. The first is Leigh Nash's effortless voice. Unique, soothing and soft but with enough strength and style to give utterance to the range of emotions found on the record. It seems excessive praise to call it angelic, but I can nearly imagine that her tender strains float like billowy clouds through 12 tracks of colorful skies. It's mesmerizing. Yet even this remarkable talent is not enough to keep me interested. What sets Divine Discontent apart from other pop outings and even other Sixpence albums is the pitch-perfect songwriting. The melodies! Every single song has a fantastic, memorable melody. There's an arty, alternative leaning in Sixpence's approach and it blends seamlessly into their other influences. Matt Slocum and co. lend their carefully mixed guitars, pianos and strings to Nash's sweet soprano lines, filling the speakers with intelligent note placements. From the tentative finger picking of "Melody of You," to the rapping drums and electric lead licks of "Paralyzed," there's always something interesting happening and it's never overdone. It's always just right. It's baby bear's porridge.

Then there's the lyrics. Some are better than others, but like everything else the band does, these are thoughtful, usually poetic, and always heartfelt. Consider as an example this verse from "Melody of You": "You're a painting with symbols deep / Symphony / Soft as it shifts from dark beneath / A poem that flows, caressing my skin / In all of these things you reside and I / Want to flow from the pen, bow and brush / With paper and string, and canvas tight / With ink in the air, to dust your light / From morning to the black of night." The record is full of honest reflections. It's something that you sit and absorb - or it absorbs you. There are no poor tracks. From the radio-friendly "Breathe Your Name," to the longing of "A Million Parachutes," Divine Discontent unfolds like a lover's letter. It's a sunset on the beach, a box of memories, a philosophy, a prayer, a dark chocolate. It's a work of art and a sensation of popular music. Now how often do you get to say that?