Album: A Pill for Loneliness
Artist: City and Colour
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Record label(s): Still Records
Recommended Tracks: Track 6- Mountain of Madness and Track 11- Lay Me Down
City and Colour is a Canadian musician and songwriter, his real name is Dallas Green. Green was born in Ontario, Canada. Green started his musical career when he was part of a band called Helicon Blue and released several songs before breaking up. He then became part of another group called Alexisonfire, in late 2001, where they released four albums and two EPs before breaking up due to Green’s decision do focus on his own music career as City and Colour. From then on, Green started to release his music online for his fans to download, he eventually released seven albums. Within these albums, they included his most recent one, “A Pill for Loneliness”, on October 4th, 2019. Green’s new album continues to have the same themes of having dark songs, accompanied by beautiful music, which is part of only a few artists who do this on the radio today, it is unique. With Green releasing his own music under his own record label, Still Records, he is avoiding the control and restrictions that so many artists are in. Green also became a classic instantly. City and Colour stands out from other artists because of his concepts and themes in his music, with the mixing of folk melodies, that tell of different perspectives on life and experiences overall, including death, especially when accompanied by his clear voice that seemed to reach your soul, this made him quickly addictive to his listeners. I would rate this album a 5 out of 5 because of the themes this album presents and the types songs, that I find relatable, especially in this world, he has created, accompanied by the amazing, calming, and beautiful instrumentals that I think make the whole album come together gently.
“Mountains of Madness” is the sixth song on the album and is introduced as a song that can relate to many listeners. Green is known for his lyrics hitting the listener’s souls and being highly relatable and this song hits the same way. This song explains how someone feels as if whatever t3hey do, they feel like they are not living up to their own worth, and questioning if the end goal is even worth the pain along the way. You can feel the intensity and loneliness in the instrumentals. The music makes you feel alone and it also makes you feel the pressure of not knowing what to do, whether to keep going forward or stop. The lyrics are also very soulful and digs deep into the feelings of many people and the stress of not knowing if their hard work will pay off at the end and if the end result was worth all the trouble.
“Lay Me Down” is the last song of the album and it wraps up the entire album on a sad note. After many songs that talk about loving one another despite all the negativity and the effects of war, the album comes to an end with this song, “Lay Me Down”, and this song is kind of the last goodbye and wishing it all to come to an end because you know that nothing is going to change for the better, so you’d rather it all just end, thus, the song is called “Lay Me Down”, talking about how they just want to be put down and leave the negativity. The music is really slow and saddening, it helps give the song a sense of giving up and depression. The instrumental break amplifies the song’s effects and makes it even more saddening. This song is very much less hopeful than the others, but it closes off the album very well.
City and Colour has a way of telling serious issues, from a personal to a societal level, that makes people listen, this is unique to himself and to a few artists today. “A Pill for Loneliness” has a serious feel to it but deals with different issues that isolate the individual listener, but connects to everyone in a way that’ll make you stop and take a look at the world today. If you like City and Colour, then I recommend listening to Billie Eilish and to Conan Gray. Overall, if you like music that deals with real issues, that everyone goes through, then you should definitely take a listen to City and Colour and his latest album “A Pill for Loneliness”.
