First, let's get this out of the way.
Yes, Confess sounds like the 80s. Yes, George Lewis Jr. is wearing a leather jacket. And yes, Lewis Jr. is supposed to be this alternative 2012 it-boy version of the 1980s bad boy. As a matter of fact, Lewis Jr. describes his look as "James Dean in Bollywood in the late 80s." Cool. Nice. Awesome. Whatever. But, what sort of music comes to mind when you think, you know: motorcycles, leather jackets, bad boys, pompadours, 5-o'clock shadows/beards, black shirts/white shirts, leather pants/faded jeans, etc? Well I, for instance, think of classic rock--like Steppenwolf and the Grease soundtrack, maybe. But Twin Shadow is no Steppenwolf, or John Travolta. No no. You see, Twin Shadow is all about the imagery and the sentiment and the dramatics... a little like a certain Ms. Lana Del Rey. But the thing is, Lewis Jr. sort of flaunts this whole 80s faux bad boy persona, and quite proudly (and I really don't see anything wrong with that). He knows what he is doing and he isn't afraid to do it (which sort of goes with his whole faux bad boy persona, I guess). As a reference for this record (or any Twin Shadow music) think: Lost Boys meets Breakfast Club meets Charlie Sheen from Ferris Bueller's Day Off and you sort of get an idea. Yeah, and, believe it or not, Twin Shadow is actually more John Hughes than you'd expect (in case you needed another reference to the 80s).
Put simply, Confess is another modern take on 80s pop. Synth music. New Wave. Whatever you want to call it. And no, it doesn't sound like 2012, whatever 2012 is supposed to sound like. It absolutely, completely, embraces everything 80s. And it's glossy, it's retro as hell, and it's full of ballads and more ballads and then, yeah, even more ballads! But the whole 80s New Wave retro pop synth revival shtick is anything but a gimmick, see. For some of us, Confess will sound like something we've heard already, probably. And yes, this isn't anything new, it's been done before. It's pop music peppered with elements of rhythm & blues and funk. It's like Prince but more obsessed with the 80s. And you know what? People are loving the fuck out of this shit right now. But why? Isn't it just 80s pop revivalism? Aren't there a dozen other bands doing the same thing right now? Well, yeah, sort of... But then, no, not like Twin Shadow. No one does the 80s like Twin Shadow. What makes Confess work, honestly, is the fact that it doesn't try to be something it's not. Lewis Jr. embraces the 80s (I think I've said this enough times now) and he doesn't use it as a gimmick either. This isn't pastiche. Rather, it's the only genre, really, that could essentially work with the source material: love. Yes, the theme of this album is love... And then some other stuff, but love, mainly. And love works best as a ballad, from the 80s, with synthesizers, and gloss, and... yeah, I think you get my point.
Album highlights include:
Golden Light
Five Seconds
The One
When The Movie's Over
Be Mine Tonight
In the end though,
I'll admit this: George Lewis Jr.'s whole image may be artificial and fake and
not real, but so what? Yeah, this isn't the 80s anymore, I think we all get
that. But some of us like the 80s because we actually lived it and enjoyed it.
Others, because it is something that is foreign, and weird, and maybe
interesting because, well, it's foreign and weird! And then others, maybe they
just like 80s music in general, or, music that sounds like the 80s. And I'm not
sure I've totally figured out Lewis Jr.'s entire angle yet (concerning the 80s
and his music and all that) but I don't really think I need to. And for the
time being, Confess does what it tries to do very well. And for me, that's
quite alright.