Something must have clicked in the minds of Frightened Rabbit over the last two years, because their latest album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, is one wrecking ball of a challenge compared to their previous two LPs. Only traces of their immature but always entertaining witticisms of old (""You're the shit, and I'm knee deep in it,"" ""You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last leg,"" etc.) remain, which always kept listeners singing along in amusement as their traditional songwriting prevented anyone from getting lost. Gone are the days of the Scottish group sitting in a bar drinking bourbon too expensive for their own good and stretching ironically affecting lyrics every which way as they stand on the sturdy legs of their natural melodic sensibilities. They are now drowning themselves in a bottle of cheap whiskey while wallowing in an undercurrent of self-pity, trying to fight the urge to extinguish hope. But nobody should be surprised that they pull it off.
Off the bat, ""Things"" drowns in increasingly deeper and more unstable waters as lead singer/guitarist Scott Hutchison sets the stage: ""I never need these things / I'll never need them / Never going back / So we can drop the past / And we'll leave it on the floor / And run for dear life through the door."" And straight out the door he runs for the ocean and farther from his pains, following up the opening track with the most memorable hook of the album as he repeatedly taunts, ""Swim until you can't see land."" And so The Winter of Mixed Drinks goes, a struggle to run from the agonies of rejection and despair while grasping for any hope of recovery from this drunken misery. Although this elimination of much of their inherent Scottish quirkiness disappoints at first, its support from the maturing background aesthetics allows it to thrive.
Producer Peter Katis allows them huge ebbs and flows, taking the band's sonic waves across expansive oceans and valleys. A patience Frightened Rabbit have not exuded before takes over the guitars on almost every track before each finally gives way to organically forming melodies usually translucently exposed through walls of sound; nothing dominates this sonic landscape, and though it borders on some type of muddy dream pop in its distance, it avoids requiring listeners to get lost in their soul-searching. The band is no longer asking for attention through their music, rather they seem focused internally on personal stability.
Eclipsing the inviting ""Swim Until You Can't See Land"" as the highlight of the album is the dense ""Skip the Youth."" It represents one of the few times on the album where there is a lot to keep track of instrumentally, with even the sparse sections being abstract, and even more, its lyrics embody the seeming inner struggle going on in Hutchison's head as to whether to grasp at youth forever or wake up, move on and grow up for good.
Also showing off the band's impressive new grasp for album cohesion, ""Not Miserable"" is a straightforward piece of wallowing and denial that depresses slightly before perfectly leading into the aptly titled ""Living in Colour,"" the brightest track on the album—making evident the back-and-forth internal struggle of hope and despair.
All of these tugs at listeners' heartstrings are a completely new concept for Frightened Rabbit. Although their subject matter was never as light as their diction, never before has their inherent demand of listeners been for any serious emotional investment. They've made the contrast of 2008's stellar Midnight Organ Fight and The Winter of Mixed Drinks stark while presenting listeners with a dilemma: Would you rather listen to the innocently, ceaselessly entertaining ramblings of immature Scottish drinking buddies or dive into their subconscious where they are drowning in a combination of angst and whiskey? With increasing listens each side gains character and familiarity that breeds comfort, proving the band is worthy of praise regardless of preference. But what makes Mixed Drinks better than their more accessible previous efforts is the intimacy gained over time. Don't be surprised to see this album continuously creep up as the year goes on and its intricacies continue to intrigue next to the year's best efforts.
