Welcome to The Silver Tongue’s Download Den.
Here is where we will pass along the most intriguing and worthwhile songs that we’ve been fortunate enough to discover. Many are songs we’ve been obsessing over, while others simply snuck up and got their hooks in us. We’re not concerned with genre limitations or mere trendiness. We simply want to open the door for you to join us in listening to music that is making us excited about the power of a song. Check out the Download Den daily, and the least we can do is help soundtrack your day.
Quiet Company is a band that I’ve wanted to write about for years, but this is the first time I’ve actually sat down to do so. They are a five-piece from Austin, TX who are rounding out the most celebrated year of their still-young career, and a wealth of deservedly exciting things are happening for them. In 2011, Quiet Company released a deeply personal and honest album that not only became their most shining achievement, but it is also immensely fulfilling and, hands-down, one of the best records in recent years. That album, We Are All Where We Belong, was Quiet Company frontman and songwriter Taylor Muse’s documentation of his personal “break-up with religion.” That he presented the material with a wide-open heart, mature empathy, and total honesty is a testament to his sincerity and character; that the band turned that subject matter into extraordinarily melodic rock and roll packed with mammoth choruses and impassioned energy is an altogether different sort of worldly miracle.
We Are All Where We Belong is a once-in-a-lifetime caliber of album that has the power to hit the deepest nerves in the recesses of your insides. Muse has zero intention of pandering to the masses to tell anybody how to live his life or what to believe. That’s a breath of fresh air in the sacred/secular battleground that has become the decisive thread of 21st Century, American discourse, and his decision to bare his own journey from religion to humanism without punitive judgment is as brave of an act as I can think of in the world (of indie rock music or otherwise). Muse has always cited The Beatles as hugely influential in his music, and his love for them is written all over Quiet Company’s stunning melodies. He also cites acts like Pedro the Lion and Cursive as having impacted him. The latter’s brilliant 2006 concept album Happy Hollow is a fine touchstone for what to expect on We Are All Where We Belong, but the much-publicized dissolution of the beliefs of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion is the truest kin to the journey Muse takes on the album.
We Are All Where We Belong is a work of exquisite beauty and urgency, and it’s as triumphant and devoid of irony as any rock and roll album you’re likely to find anytime soon. Quiet Company’s hometown of Austin sure thinks so. Back in March at the 2012 Austin Music Awards, Quiet Company swept the whole shebang and broke the record for most awards in a single year. The band walked away with “Band of the Year,” “Musician of the Year (Taylor Muse),” “Album of the Year,” “Song of the Year for ‘You, Me, & the Boatman,’” “Best Indie Band,” “Best Songwriter,” “Best Drums,” “Best Male Vocals,” and “Best Producer.”
I immediately became a fan of Quiet Company upon seeing their galvanizing video for “On Modern Men” about two days after moving to Austin in late 2009. I was fortunate enough to see them play an incredible set to an audience of maybe 30 friends at The Parish in December of that year, and I’ve been passionate about the band and their music ever since. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the wild (and deserving) success Quiet Company have found in the few years since. I feel fortunate that I’ll have the opportunity to interview them this week, and I’ll share that conversation with you in the coming days.
For now, enjoy a free download of the 2012 Austin Music Award winner for Song of the Year, “You Me, & the Boatman.”
Quiet Company – “You, Me & the Boatman (Truth Is I’ve Been Thirsty My Whole Life)”
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Visit www.quietcompanymusic.com to learn more about the band and buy We Are All Where We Belong.
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