CD of The Week

If there’s one thing that Jukebox the Ghost does really well, it’s writing catchy tunes that make you feel things. They write music that compels you to move. From start to finish, Safe Travels is a feast of unbridled emotion.

Their sound evolves with each new record - Let Live and Let Ghosts was rough and unfocused, but delightfully so. Everything Under the Sun came a step closer to a cohesive musical narrative in 2010. And now, Safe Travels is their most deliberately focused album yet.

That’s not to say it’s perfect - the band tends to wear their musical influences on their sleeves. Several tracks make clear call-backs to classic rock: “Man in the Moon” sounds like a sentimental Beatles tune, “The Spiritual” has atmospheric shades of Queen, and “At Last” belongs with “The Stranger” era Billy Joel. Even “Death,” the album’s fulcrum, feels like a track that Ben Gibbard forgot to include on Transatlanticism. But their performance on the album is still as infectious and energizing as ever.

Lyrically, Safe Travels is what Ben Thornewill and Tommy Siegel do best - heartfelt commentary on personal experience, failed romance, and the human condition. Sometimes playful, sometimes painful, but always poignant.

If I have one complaint about the album, it’s that Thornewill’s piano doesn’t take center stage nearly enough, as it does on their previous two albums. There's a lot more sounds overall - a collection of synth, bass, guitar and strings layered over the keys. It’s big sound for a small band that oozes pure feeling, especially on tracks like “All For Love” and “Don’t Let Me Fall Behind.”

For a band that’s still nurturing its sound, Safe Travels is a solid album that comes very close to what they’re trying to achieve. It’s not there yet, but they’re getting much, much closer.