Grace Hotel
  Overall rating: ++++

Album Reviews

Discontent is a truly polite emotional word – at least as expressions of emotion go -- and as such, it is an appropriate term to be associated with the ever-so-courteous Sixpence None The Richer. So while vocalist Leigh Nash's little-girl singing may incorporate cries and whispers, she never resorts to any Alanis Morrisette-like anger outbursts, or Madonna-esque bragging rites. Strangely enough, Divine Discontent makes even some of life's most unpleasant experiences still appear pretty -- at least within Sixpence's uniquely divine worldview.

Sixpence has never been ashamed to give away its obvious musical influences, and just as the group covered The La's "There She Goes" on its most recent album, the Nashville-based outfit has now included a take on Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over." Much like these two bands that they have honored with song reinterpretations, Sixpence also puts “being melodic” at the very top of its to-do list. Such a beatific musical trait makes its recent commercial success all the more surprising, especially since the airwaves are seemingly filled to overflowing with angry posturing and rhythm-centered sounds. Sixpence sometimes appears to be a bunch of out-of-place party-crashers, at least within this contemporary big picture. It’s like they’re having a little tea party, right in the middle of a noisy frat bash.

Steve Martin used to do a bit where he would demonstrate how it was nearly impossible to sound sad or depressed while playing a banjo: This joyous instrument just lends itself to grinning and plucking. And Sixpence can also seem a little too precious for its own good -- as if flowers can brighten up even the darkest dungeon. Much of this happy quotient propensity once again falls back on Nash’s singing; even when she’s vocalizing sad thoughts, they nonetheless come out like candy kisses. And when you add sparkling keyboards, chiming guitars and almost instantly memorable tunes to its sweets jar, this album just can’t help but leave one with a contented impression.

Sixpence may not be the most evangelistic bunch of Christian musicians you’ll ever meet, yet the single “Breathe Your Name” could just as easily be about God as about a lover. Likewise, the prayerful “Waiting On The Sun” might well be better titled “Waiting On The Son,” simply because of its overt spiritualism.

Divine Discontent is an album of muted orchestral pop, formed with lots of acoustic guitar, tinkling pianos and unobtrusive strings. But Nash's voice is always this outfit's central focus. It's a real thing of aural beauty when her voice half-yodels on a track called "Still Burning" here. No doubt about it, she's this group's greatest source of listener contentment. Ultimately, all of Sixpence's quieted discontentment is nothing less than simply divine on the old ears.

~ Dan MacIntosh

Divine Discontent won't recapture the mainstream market's interest in Sixpence, but long-time fans will enjoy this album despite the wait.After five years a new Sixpence album has finally been released, and fans may certainly be very discontent with the long wait and the cuts from this album. But by titling this CD Divine Discontent, Sixpence reminds us all of God's grace, and that even in discontentment there is reason to be satisfied and to glorify God in whatever life brings. Despite some over-production, Divine Discontent keeps to the fresh, vivid songwriting expected from this band. Some tracks don't live up to the raw, ethereal edge that has defined Sixpence, but the best tracks on this disc are as stunningly melodic and breathtaking as ever. Likewise, the ever-innovative Sixpence spirit has been lost in some of the pop production, but on the best tracks it burns bright and eternal.

'Breathe Your Name' is a song you should be well familiar with by now, since it's been on a bunch of different samplers since the summer and it's hit radio enthusiastically. This song feels like a pop radio song that you listen to and sing along with when driving in your car, and in that respect it's a very catchy song but not unique for Sixpence.

More interesting melodically is 'Tonight,' which runs strong with continuous clean electric lines and standard drum rhythms. Leigh's searching vocals are full and rich, and ring especially bright when the instrumentation cuts back near the end of the song: 'Tonight I'm gonna let it go ... It's hard to know / Where I'm supposed to go / But there is a way / And tomorrow is a brand new day.''Down And Out Of Time' is the melancholy dirge of this album, atmospheric but uninteresting, a song of longing but ultimately without comfort: 'You're gonna feel my pain, like it or not / You're down and out of time.'

The Crowded House cover 'Don't Dream It's Over' is an inclusion that's difficult to reconcile. It's a great cover, and even though it matches the themes explored in this album, it's all-too smooth in its pop format and breaks up the 'unique Sixpence feeling' that has been building over the last three tracks. It would have been better placed at the end of the album.

'Waiting On The Sun' is this album's shortest track at just under three minutes. Musically, it runs in the line of 'Breathe Your Name' and sounds typically pop-radio. Lyrically, it's woefully elementary in its exploration of the themes of weakness/strength and questions/answers. It's the second of two tracks not written by Sixpence on this album - it was written by Lifehouse frontman Jason Wade and Lifehouse producer Ron Aniello. Only the catchiness of the completely non-sensical bridge and the chorus will give you reason to listen to this track more than once: 'I'll be around and I will find my way back down / And I'll see the sound of the sun * I'm going nowhere and I'm going to take my time ... I'm waiting on the sunshine.'

Reaching the mid-point of this album after a mediocre beginning, we come to four absolutely brilliant tracks that comprise the heart of this album. 'Still Burning' draws inspiration from the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and its lyrics represent one of the few poetic intertextualities on this album (whereas previous Sixpence albums were more intertextual). Tastefully mixed (with a real appreciation for dynamics), piano highlights and undertones, gentle percussion, easy acoustics, elegant strings and of course, Leigh's perfect vocals combine to create this beautiful journey of healing through brokenness: 'So when You break my arms I'll take hold of You / I know Your heart is a hand that takes hold of me.'

'Melody Of You' is a gentler song that keeps Leigh's worshipful vocals bare over soft, stirring acoustic guitar and piano melodies. The song builds to a warm, liquid flow with graceful strings and light percussion. Contrasting the ornamental verses is a pleasingly simple chorus: 'This is my call, I belong to You / This is my call, to sing the melodies of You / This is my call, I can do nothing else / I can do nothing else.'

'Paralyzed' changes the mood completely and should be recognized as one of the greatest rock songs Sixpence has ever written. A killer electric lead makes way for Leigh's vocals to ride the intense lyrical storm of the war atrocities of Kosovo with passion: 'Feels like I'm fiddlin' while Rome is burning down / Should I lay my fiddle down, take a rifle from the ground / I need the ghost to breathe a northern gale tonight / 'Cause I'm paralyzed, I'm paralyzed.' As with 'Melody Of You,' a full minute of closing instrumentation is priceless, approaching the spine-tingling sound of Sixpence live.

'I've Been Waiting' isn't quite as accomplished throughout as the previous three tracks, both musically and lyrically, but the opening lead line is a heartache that will keep you listening for its return throughout the track.'Eyes Wide Open' is a rather sad song with upbeat instrumentation about 'dreams without tears' and nightmares that 'wait to come again when she wakes.' The chorus is rather clear in meaning when you consider the rest of the despairing lyrics: 'She's saying goodbye bye bye to the world now.''Dizzy' is a slower, waltzing tune (though it keeps an upbeat outlook) with mournful horns and some of the clearest Christian ideas on this album with direct references to the Biblical characters of King David, the apostle Peter, and the disciple Thomas: 'I give You myself, it's all that I have / Broken and frail, I'm clay in Your hands / And I'm spinning unconcealed / Dizzy on this wheel for You, my love.' Really, this song is a prayer, almost lilting and carnivalesque in its unique range of melody structures and instrumentation.

Like a love song, beautifully orchestrated with picturesque melodies, 'Tension Is A Passing Note' is the second to last song on this album and it's pure gold. The almost-controversial lyrics in odd combination with the soothing, reflective instrumentation is enough to move you to tears: 'Do I murder when I forget You from afar? / Too drunk on the poison of endless roads / And the countless smoky bars * But tension is to be loved / When it is like a passing note / To a beautiful, beautiful chord.'

Closing this album is 'A Million Parachutes,' picking up the steadier strum of the acoustic pop genre one last time. Contrasting two worlds, like the 'blanket of white' this song descends on the listener, a sentiment of days gone by and days ahead.

Divine Discontent won't recapture the mainstream market's interest in Sixpence, but long-time fans will enjoy this album despite the wait. After all, this album should have been released in the summer of 2000, and as such it is in many ways a pop follow-up that's more oriented to the mainstream market - but the momentum built after the success of 'Kiss Me' has been lost. It won't take long, however, for even the average tracks on this album to make you fall in love with Sixpence all over again. Read the lyrics as you listen to the music - inspiring, they will increase your appreciation of these songs. The final verdict? Divine Discontent transcends expectation and all the problems that have plagued its release.

~ Praise.com