Portland, Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper exudes an esoteric vibe with his latest album. hundreds, thousands, millions, the second effort with a new lineup inspired by singer-songwriter Eric Early’s devotion to Buddhist scriptures and meditation. The result, while musically ambitious and often beautiful, is a bit heavy for new listeners looking for a springboard to eventually join the band.
The title derives its name from a phrase that appears repeatedly in the Mahayana scriptures. “This whole project came from a box of his old 4-track tapes from the ’90s that I recently found,” Early explains. “That tape is full of songs that I wrote and recorded when I was 19 or 20, and the sound and spirit of those recordings inspired me to start writing music again and get back to what I used to do. ”When I was just starting out. ”
The dreamy opening track “Ain’t Got Time to Fight” is the perfect prelude to what follows. The music is impressively complex, but the lyrics are as opaque as anything Michael Stipe sang in the ’80s and ’90s. I’m not saying it’s not good. While there are some solid songs here (including the album opener, the charming “Planetarium” and the excellent “Long Game”), there are also moments where it feels like there’s no point in just being weird and mysterious. It’s the ultimate goal, like “Hesher In The Rain” or “Bear’s Head/At The Cove.” If you look at the album as a whole, it’s an uneven listen from start to finish.
Early was able to find the old tapes that would become the backbone of this album around the same time he learned meditation and began delving into Buddhism. The effect is like listening to a friend talk at length about a new discovery, and as much as you’re happy that it’s bringing them joy, the topic is I can’t wait for that to switch to something we’re both interested in.
