Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) – What It Takes To Move Forward

When you run across something on the Count Your Lucky Stars record label, it’s pretty easy to guess what you’re in store for.  Depending on who you are, that can be a comforting reality, or merely business as usual.  Personally, I probably fit somewhere in between.  On the one hand, over this year I’ve come to embrace several Lucky Stars releases like those by Castevet and Annabell for their twinkly guitars and lofty melodies.  On the other hand, the guitars and general atmosphere in this growing subgenre tend to blend together between releases, sometimes making it hard to separate genuine ambition from the status quo.

I mention this because while reviewing Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)’s full-length debut, What it Takes To Move Forward, I couldn’t help but remain on the fence.  True, Empire! Empire!contains Count Your Lucky Stars founding members and operators, so in a way it’s expected that they sound like the bands they sign.  But I still can’t help shake the feeling that What it Takes never really justifies itself to its listeners.

Now don’t get me wrong, lead vocalist Keith Latinen has one of the smoothest, softest voices anywhere in the indie/emo scene – but for the most part his voice remains rather passive.  Lines just sort of melt together as he revisits similar line structures from song to song.  There isn’t a concrete pattern per se, but across most tracks, “Keep Up What You Have Built Up Here” and “What Safe Means” come to mind, this reoccurring vocal inflection and range tends to lose its effect as the album progresses.  Consequently, I’m at a loss when trying to pinpoint What it Takes’ memorable moments.

For that matter, nothing jumps out on the album in general.  In fact, What it Takes almost feels like one big track from start to finish.  This doesn’t have to be a negative, but with Empire! Empire! I find it hard to frame stylistic repetition as a positive simply because What it Takes’ eleven tracks span a gargantuan fifty-five minutes.  Again, it comes back to justifying itself to listeners, and there really isn’t much to grab on to here to set Empire! Empire! apart from their peers and labelmates.

While I feel the need to pick this album apart, I also just can’t bring myself to say anything truly detrimental – the actual musicianship is just far too strong to not recommend.  Although the entire outing feels very familiar, what Empire! Empire! provides feels incredibly rich, thoughtful, and full of emotion – it all just exists within a very narrow range.  So if you’re already onboard with the Count Your Lucky Stars scene, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to check out What It Takes To Move Forward, just don’t expect anything terribly new.