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Blue October are:
Justin Furstenfeld - lead vocals and guitar
Jeremy Furstenfeld - drummer
Ryan Delahoussaye - keyboards, violin, mandolin
CB Hudson - guitar
Matt Noveskey - bass
www.blueoctoberfan.com

Blue October's latest release Foiled is the quintet's fifth studio album since the band formed in the late 90's. Their use of angelic violin sequences glistening along atmospheric guitar lines have a Peter Gabriel Prog Rock instep with a Dave Matthews Band groove. The songs range from an ambling gait to a heavy and zealous run, expressing wavelets of mood swings and a release of pent up emotions. Their streamlined Prog Rock frequencies have textures of alternative rock meters embellished by classically infused stretches in the vocal harmonies and piano segments.

"You Make Me Smile" leads off Foiled with an ambling trot and a vocal melody that moves to its own rhythm. The music passages release impulses and create emotive shifts through the streaming continuum. The chord transitions are seamless and yet produce dynamic landscapes with vibrant coloring and movements. The album becomes more compelling with fatter collaborations that buildup the arrangements like in the song "What If We Could," a bucking, aggressive number that begins with trills of honeyed violins and striking rhythmic beats complementing the brash guitar verses that course exponentially into a billowy tempest of surly vibrations.

The album segues into "Hate Me" which starts off with a mother's message left on an answering machine checking up on her child and expressing concern. The instrumentation is coarse and officious with lyrics that tell:

In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so f*king far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind
Hate me today, hate me tomorrow,
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

The track "Congratulations" features eclectic techno artist Imogen Heap on vocal harmonies with a dulcet voicing that circles the lead vocals like a pliable, silk sheet. The treatment on the arrangements are delicate splices that flux caressively with warm clarity. Sublimely, the tunage for "Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek" is a teeth biting, turmoil churning, lava spewing volcanic eruption of shredding guitars, curt rhythmic beats and heated vocal ejections.

Subdued to a simmer after climaxing with a burst, the LP tapers down to a more gentle trundle, capping the album with the tune "18th Floor Balcony," a sweet ballad about holding someone's love in the mind and heart. The sensations are accented by tender guitar strums and serene violin interludes that take the listener to that place where love flourishes.

Foiled touches the most extreme emotions and travels through atmospheric textures and vamped tones that have recollections of ensembles by Peter Gabriel, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, and New Order.

According to the band's website, Blue October was formed by lead vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist Justin Furstenfeld along with his brother and drummer Jeremy. They obtained Ryan Delahoussaye on violin, mandolin, piano, and vocals, Matt Novesky on bass and vocals, and CB Hudson on guitar and vocals. Foiled (Universal) was released in March 2006, and the band just put out Foiled For The Last Time in September 2007, which is a premium edition of the album and includes bonus tracks. The band is on tour across the USA with Yellowcard for the Fall of 2007.

Learn more about this author, Susan Frances.
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