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Album Reviews

This Beautiful Mess is the second release of Sixpence None the Richer. This introspective effort shows a hint of things to come with its poetic lyrics and slightly guitar-heavy melodies. Sixpence digs deep with their songs, refusing to limit themselves to strictly "Christian" concerns, one of their trademarks that has caused some "crossover" backlash. "Within a Room, Somewhere" is one of the strongest songs of the album, with Leigh (Bingham) Nash adding sweet poignancy to Matt Slocum's lyrics. "Melting Alone" keenly expresses the pain of loneliness. This album does have some slow moments, and gets a bit long by the time the last few tracks come around. All in all, this is a good album showcasing their promising future.

~ Melinda Hill

So here we have Sixpence's sophomore album, This Beautiful Mess: an album full of fear and pain. An album of constant questioning. An album of knowing that you should be hopeful, while not knowing how to do so. An album that is essentially a soundtrack of the human condition.

The first track is "Angeltread," showing man in a unique position; on a journey for spiritual acceptance. He is wandering about in the night. Matt Slocum shows his true poetic gifts in the opening verse:

Crickets rhythmically sing
Their mournful melodies
A monotone by request
But they fail, they fail
To soothe the mess

Basically, we are in the dark. We don't know where to go, everything around us seems dismal, we know there is more than this, but we don't understand what is happening. Then the chorus comes in.

Is this some kind of holy test
To stitch the treadmarks off my chest
To get up walk outside my head
On a holy search for angeltread

The opening track is the microcosm of the album. It sets up everything to come, and encompasses the concept. Only when we give up ourselves will we ever find what we are looking for. Now, I didn't initially mean for that to sound like U2, but the comparison is more than appropriate. Sixpence's major musical influences are XTC, The Beatles, and U2. Though they have consistently grown through their career, currently incorporating more classical influence into their work via The Beatles, This Beautiful Mess is more modern. Released in 1995, amidst the rampant "alternative" scene, this is definitely a guitar album, and the most "alternative" of their discography.

Though the U2 comparisons are unmistakable on their debut album (namely "Spotlight"), they combine the influence with a definite unique sound to This Beautiful Mess. Rarely settling for the overused traditional pop-song clichés, Sixpence None The Richer play with unique timing and rhythms, thrive in their many musical layers, and aren't afraid of straying from the typical 4/4 timing of music theory.

It's not that Sixpence haven't found what they're looking for spiritually, or where they're going, the lyrics only express how difficult life can be. In "Love, Salvation, The Fear of Death," Leigh sings, over layered bass-effects and jangling guitars:


Well I'm staring straight into the face of hell
You're so close and you can't even tell
And I'm so wrapped up inside
I don't have much to love



This obviously isn't typical Christian music; it isn't overtly hopeful. The song goes on to state "I contemplate my lack of love" and "I'm not afraid to admit how much I hate myself."

Now, don't take this the wrong way. This isn't Reznor-esque depression we're talking about here. It is a hopeful analysis of the human condition. Recognizing our faults, and being frustrated with ourselves is the first step towards life. Discovering that we can never be anything great in and of ourselves.

This Beautiful Mess continues down this path of discovery, through understanding of pain ("Within a Room Somewhere"), actualization of self ("Thought Menagerie"), and acceptance of grace. From fear to hope and back again ("Circle of Error") and from dark to light ("Angeltread," "Bleeding," "Melting Alone"); never expressing the full extent of that light and hope, but definitely knowing it exists. You can feel its presence.

It flirts with the idea of a silence of a personal God, a theme reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman films. I see the characters fighting the inner-struggle, and the hardest part is coming to a personal acceptance. Sixpence None The Richer know that the hope should come easily, but can't deny how difficult it can be.

I hesitate to call This Beautiful Mess a Christian album, because of the immediate connotations that are associated with the term. This album isn't about God, it is about humans. As the band name tells us, of course it is about both. The two become blurred. As C.S. Lewis says, we are to become little Christs. This process is not easy, and this album documents that fact.

When asked if Sixpence None The Richer were a "Christian" band, writer/guitarist Matt Slocum answered "We really are trying to be salt and light. There's no subversive thing going on—we're not trying to convert the world. We wanna make really good art and be excellent at what we do." That is where This Beautiful Mess is most successful. Everything I've just said about this album is what I've brought to it myself. Everyone can relate to it, and its meaning will most certainly be different. The struggle is universal. Bits of everyone's journey can be found along the way.

It is at this understanding that real art begins.

~ Tony Pellum