Ennui suits some, whether the grim, Russian novelist or a Nick Cave, skeleton man type. Good Morning (I Love You) is a reappraisal in the anthology of Eggs on Mars; the sound of cynicism urged into idealistic love. Any existing negativities are elbowed into something nicer in a quest for optimal balladry.
“Even though things may change / I will always arrange / all my time and my plans to be here with you”. Singer Brad Smith sends his devotion into such a frenzy, it knocks out all instrumentation on Be For You. The plan of the Eggs, hit with such sentimentality, could’ve bred cheesy, lovey-dove nonsense and little else, but there is, continuously, a bond between ideals and music, even in absences of the latter.
The quest for the perfect love song could easily dumb a writer down, but Inconsistent Cowpoke’s weather-like harmony-building and switch from 4/4 into 3/4 each confirm otherwise. Good Morning may be the first Eggs album with a super-clear mission; a great motivator that reaps reward.
Good Morning is the attentive love-themed album, totally alternative to the norms of the darling singer-songwriter. Your everyday precedent of love won’t include the freakier tempo and surf aura of Takes Time, the keyboards of the title track that shine like the whitest teeth, or meticulous textures and harmonies like those of Couldn’t Write and Shooting Stars, the latter of which forms unrecognisable musical mechanics out of wispy guitars and disturbed keyboard patches.
And that’s not to mention some of the mighty-original melodies the band loads into the album; Christmassy, yet integral vocal quivers in the case of And I know; melodies lit up by a snowy-ground guitar tone on That’s Alright. In the band’s modern development of classic romanticism, Frame to Frame’s coupling of brave melody and shocking harmony is Simon and Garfunkel-esque.
There is plenty that dictates the flow and meaning of Good Morning (I Love You) – see the web-weaving guitar licks of I Came Home 2 Find Nothing Had Changed Except Me – and it all supplies a certain, distinct artistic merit reserved for Eggs on Mars; strong themes guided with care.
Credit not Brad Smith’s storytelling, but his ability to ingrain his storytelling into Joel Stratton’s hands-on, subtly textural production, and Eggs on Mars’ likeminded, undeterred goals.
Best tracks – Inconsistent Cowpoke – I Came Home 2 Find Nothing Had Changed Except Me.
Rating – 7.5 out of 10
