Angels & Airwaves – The Dream Walker

Angels & Airwaves will always bear the brunt of plenty of Tom DeLonge jokes.  Not because the band doesn’t boast an impressive track record by normal standards, but rather because of DeLonge’s affinity for outlandish claims that defined Angels & Airwaves birth.  Very few reviewers miss the opportunity to revisit DeLonge’s early aspirations at making “the best music in decades” and to become a experiential sensation like no other.  

Time passed (ten years to be exact), and aspirations of global domination never played out as planned.  But what did transpire is nothing to scoff at.  DeLonge and crew designed some kickass space jackets, dabbled in some highly stylized independent films, and released four very listenable albums with a host of memorable tunes.  Not bad for a guy that made his first million from toilet humour.  The band has long since stopped reaching for Blink 182 levels of commercial viability, content to peacefully coexisted on another plane of existence entirely.  Such scaling back of expectations has finally let Angels & Airwaves grow into itself more organically.  Subsequently, their fifth full length, The Dream Walker, marks the band’s most natural evolution to date.

Notably, DeLonge has abandoned what at one time seemed like his endless quest for scaling the highest mountains.  The Dream Walker retains an element of novelty, but does so with confidence, and oddly enough, the most open-minded sonic palette the band has ever known.  Why the sudden change?  Well, direct your attention to the departure of drummer Atom Willard and addition of beats master Ilan Rubin.  Rubin’s resume is extensive, but his involvement with industrial godfathers Nine Inch Nails is of particular interest here.  Venturing a guess, you can tell that DeLonge was intrigued with Rubin’s electronic skillset and took full advantage of it.  

Look no further than the buzzing and humming anchoring lead single “Wolfpack.”  Probably Angels & Airwaves’ boldest move to date, the synthy single paints the band in a dark new light.  The band doesn’t go overboard with the trend, but songs like “Kiss With A Spell” and “The Disease” plunge into 80’s tribute territory and will have listeners wondering is DeLonge swapped bands with White Lies (in a good way).  Electronics are nothing new to Angels & Airwaves, but this time around they aren’t indebted to the onslaught of U2 guitar theatrics that once rolled eyes (only “Tremors” veers close to that).  

Other points of interest include the acoustically anchored “Anomaly” and embarrassingly catchy “Teenagers and Rituals.”  The former introduces a breath of fresh air with a wholly acoustic flavoured, fragile melodic beat that takes a nod from the contemporary singer/songwriter handbook, while the latter lights up with a chorus of “ba ba ba da da” vocals that could be the distant cousin of a Blink 182 track (sometimes DeLonge’s voice is all you need).  Not every song makes for a knockout though, as more middle of the road offerings like “Mercenaries,” “Tunnels” and “Paralyzed” serve more as competent intermediaries between highlights.

Five albums in, The Dream Walker is the best case scenario for fans of Angels & Airwaves.  A natural execution and willingness to branch out from the “space man” and “these songs sound like flying” philosophy distances The Dream Walker just enough from previous outings.  Of course the disc ties to yet another independent film and graphic novel (this time about a lucid dreamer by the name of Poet Anderson), but the content’s ephemeral nature contrasts well with the indulgent metanarratives of DeLonge’s past works.  With The Dream Walker’s clear surge of creativity, Angels & Airwaves has plenty to give.