David Terry, piercing pop crooner and lead singer of Aqueduct, has transformed his sound on his third album, second for Barsuk. Leaving the peddling energy of the drum machine for dirtier synths and guitars, Terry retains the piano, capturing the brightest, most nostalgically 1990s elements of his earlier work. Or Give Me Death begins with "Lying In the Bed I've Made", a monumental and aching fanfare that wouldn't sound out of place on Menomena's impressive Friend or Foe. The dizzying elegance of the piano line as it jumps deftly around a minor scale is coaxed into a predictable atmosphere by Terry's voice, a powerful Grohl-aping whine. A change to major key for a thumping, radio-ready chorus only hammers this home, and this opener quickly becomes a drab premonition of the rest of the album.
"Living A Lie" is a strong second track, again hinging its power on a darting, synthesized melody and, as a counterpoint, a surprising wash of guitars. But this transitory piece drifts into emo territory for the chorus, where guitars and vocals spit out angry dissonances and static noise with little reserve. On previous releases, where Terry was working as a solo artist, the use of synthesizer and drum machine led to playful, half-cooked, half-rehearsed, and ultimately danceable cuts. Even his more serious tracks, like piano montage "The Suggestion Box" from 2005's I Sold Gold, succeeded in driving home the earnest feelings of their narrator without pushing it. But push it these new messages do, with more dramatic, yet simpler tales and a more fervent adherence to a pop piano aesthetic owned by the likes of Billy Joel. The lilting keyboard syncopation on "Keep It Together" and wistful strings on "Just the Way I Are" borrow Joel's thick, happy chords and troubled romantic's vocal addresses, making these songs a joy only for being slightly refreshing facsimiles.
Aqueduct's most relaxed numbers are the strongest, where guitar, piano, and synth fuse in rare harmony. The doomsday upright bass and spacebound synth on the strongest track, "Unavailable", harness the newfound power of the band. In the slow jam "Zero the Controls" Terry has made a lo-fi and sexy jam reminiscent of 2003's Power Ballads, as he combines digitized percussion, a twittering flute sample, thick drums, backup saxophones, and a lazy, bitcrushed vocal melody. In the adagio range Terry creates the best work on the album. He's still serenading a love subject, but losing some the man-and-piano clichés with points and counterpoints that are colorful and melodically surprising. Here, in a handful of instances, he blends the strengths of his favorite instruments instead of holding simplistic competitions between them.
