Dashboard returns with a fourth studio offering. After The Swiss Army Romance, Dashboard became more than a cult favorite and blew up with the sophomore disc, The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most. But, while A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar definitely sold well, it failed to pick the radio play of Places. So now, with the release of Dusk And Summer, Dashboard hopes to not only continue the growth in sales, but to also gain back that radio popularity.
And they could not have picked a better disc to try to do it with. The lead single and opening track of the disc, Don't Wait, is a great introduction to the disc. Lead singer Chris Carrabba's vocals are exactly as Dashboard fans would expect: high and emotional. Something about the way Chris' vocals always seem like they're about to crack makes them truly enjoyable. And though the song is not the greatest piece of lyrical, it still manages to become a pretty solid track.
Dusk And Summer showcases a variety of emotions. Sticking to what's typical of a Dashboard disc, tracks like Currents, the title track and So Long, So Long (Which features a gust vocals appearance from Adam Duritz of Counting Crows) take on the pain of relationships that fail. Carrabba's ability to put real emotion into his vocals help take the songs to great heights.
Other great tracks take a different spin on things, looking at the postive sides of life. The previously mentioned Don't Wait takes on the "Don't let life pass you by" mentality. The track is summed quite well in a phrase that Carrabba repeats numerous times throughout the song: Lay your armor down. Let go of what's holding you back and don't wait on living. The disc's closing track, Heaven Here, also takes on a mood of happiness and joy, speaking of love that has heaven "spilling it's secrets" to the two who are "Naked and tangled, twisted in love." The vocals shine on this track and make for a truly great way to end the disc.
However, the true masterpieces of the disc lay in the songs which combine the right mixture of both extremes and, depending on what mood you're in, can be a song that is joyful or depressing. Rooftops And Invitations takes a look at all the options in the chorus: She just might get you lost/And she just might leave you torn/But she just might save your soul/Is she get you and she gets you any closer. It's the ultimate decision when it comes to relationships: Will this person screw me over or save my life? Likewise, Stolen, arguably the best track on the disc, can be seen as the after-effects of that decision. The chorus is fairly simple: You have stolen my heart/You have stolen my heart. The rest of the song is pretty similar, with lines like, You are the best one of the best ones scattered throughout. Depending on the person, listeners will look at this song in one of two ways. First, many will look at it as a great love song, talking about the joys of giving your heart away to someone for all of time. And this is a true enough interpretation. However, the artistry of this song also allows it to be, just as easily, a song of great sorrow; a song of having your heart stolen away by "the best one of the best ones" and then being left with nothing but pain. Stolen is arguably the best piece of music that Dashboard has ever written.
Overall, Dusk And Summer presents few, if any, flaws. It brings in the right mixture of pain and suffering with some joy and happiness. Some songs show off great pain, some show off great joy. And a few even manage to give listeners both. All-around, this seems to be Dashboard's most well-rounded disc to date.