Last week, New Brunswick-NJ-based, expressive pop rock band Powerlines announced their debut album, sharing lead single "Sober." On the release of the single, Look At My Records, praise, "The song explores how different types of addictions can interact with each other, but does so in a way that attempts to process them simultaneously, as the associated emotions and the attempts to break free of them remain a constant lyrical theme. The trio hones in on a thick, bass fueled groove early on and rides it out across the track's duration, working in fuzzy guitars, light flashes of violin, and steadily rising synths." The track is the first to be released off the band's upcoming LP, all of this is temporary, out April 9th.
Especially recently, it feels like time has been so chaotic that it has been difficult to come to terms with the feelings surrounding experiences that come and go in the blink of an eye. The debut album from New Jersey pop-rock quartet, Powerlines, all of this is temporary, Is a collection of sonic vignettes about difficulty, pain, love, and the acceptance of ephemerality through an optimistic lens.
The first two tracks of the album, "Sober" and "Outside My Mind," are bright, poppy anthems with penetrating funk basslines, driving drums, and rich, textural guitars. These songs introduce the concepts of growth and neverending change and set the bar for high-energy that will be returned to again and again.
"Temporary" is the album's philosophical and emotional center-a luscious guitar and string ballad written for and about lead-singer Deanna DiLandro's late mother that is obviously swollen in grief but grows into a forceful exhalation. A stark contrast from the album's lively opening tracks, it is a reminder of the instantaneous nature of loss and change and that even in the deepest sorrow, the knowledge that everything eventually dissolves and transforms can provide some comfort.
all of this is temporary then continues to move through these auditory snapshots and revels in the diversity and dynamism of each one. The flute and trumpet solos shimmer over a classic blues-rock guitar on the steamy "Water." Then, the pace slows down again as the slow build of "Frames" contemplates the idealization of the past and decay over time, and "Being Is Strange" strips everything down to just an acoustic guitar. Before the album reaches its final act, "Morris Street" gets everything back to bouncing rock again. Powerlines explore change and recurrence-the continuous musical shifts in pace and tone represent the moment to moment unknown of what is coming next, and exposes a larger pattern of transience: light inevitably fades to black.
The confident, assured guitar and bass sounds of '90s alt-rock from California set "Jet Planes" up as a liberating climax, as DiLandro expresses her acceptance of "opening up to the unknown, trusting the winds will take me through." The soft, piano reprise of "Sober" acts then as the denouement and a reiteration of the chaotic cycles through which the album wrestles with throughout. A collection of stories already experienced and gone, all of this is temporary finds triumph in the ability to find the love shared in tough times and finds excitement in the ability to embrace constant change.
