Todd Underwood – Chasing Clarity

Todd Underwood – Chasing Clarity – Album Review

Ohhhhh where are we in the current chapter of our Todd Underwood saga?  Right in the middle somewhere?  You all did your homework and watched part one of our interview with Todd on the latest episode of SBS Live This Week, yes?  It’s not entirely a prerequisite to reading this review here today, but if you’re interested in a couple of extra tidbits about the making of Chasing Clarity, you’ll find’em there.  We talked to this young man based outta Florida from the safety of our Canadian confines about all kinds of stuff…music…gear…LIFE…Underwood’s good shit – check out the episode here and you’ll see.

It’s neat how you can hear the blueprint sometimes…the design behind the scene, if you will.  As I listened to “Levels” start up Todd’s latest record, I felt like this was a good example of where Richard Tyler Epperson will likely take his music over the next five years or so.  They’re two unrelated artists out there in the independent scene and have nothing to do with each other, but as I listened to the highly pronounced way that Todd sang his way through “Levels” with such clarity it really reminded me of some of Richard’s tunes & the way he sings…and I could see the young man heading in the direction of what Underwood is doing when he gets as much experience under his belt.  It’s a random comment, but like you would have learned in our interview with Todd, sometimes it’s not always about what you can currently hear in a song or an artist so much as it’s about what you can hear in the overall potential for something else to exist.  In any event, I dig what I hear from Todd to start here – dude’s guitar work on “Levels” is outstanding and it’s got great balance to its composition on the whole.  With “Levels,” it’s like you get a delicate start that allows you to wake up and attune yourself to it, and also a more aggressive moment at the end of each verse that quickly assumes you’re now fully awake and ready to rock.

So…while you might learn about different tunings and instrumental configurations that Todd applies to his tunes from album to album during our interview…let’s be clear here – Underwood has got his own unmistakable sound.  So much so, that it would be easy to judge from the outside looking in and feel like the guy plays it pretty safe within that framework of the signature sound he’s got…but I think to be fair, a lot of the similarities in the sound come from the similarities in his vocal tone from track to track.  He’s more often than not doing something different and new with his musicianship, but he does have a fairly static way of approaching the microphone…you’ll always find different words and different hooks of course, but you will find a relatively similar sound there.  Which, sure, is obviously somewhat true of most artists & bands out there in the world, but you’ll listen to a track like “Leave It All On The Table” and you’ll know what I mean if you’re familiar with Todd’s music.  If you’re like me, and you happen to like the sound, then I’ve got great news for ya – there’s plenty of it!  The flipside of that coin is that you can imagine what the opposite side of that coin would look like.  “Leave It All On The Table” is a fundamentally well-written tune though…no disputing that.  From what I can tell, it’s more or less about knowing you have to put the effort and work into a relationship…and that you don’t want to be “the one” who didn’t pull their weight, because as we’re frequently reminded, it takes two to tango & such.  Really like what he’s doing with the drums in this song…that’s where I’m handing out the bonus marks.

Don’t get it twisted either y’all…yes, his vocals are recorded with layers, which create a similar kind of sound & texture to’em from track to track – but if we’re talkin’ tone and whatnot, the guy’s right on target for what he’s aiming at.  “Maybe We’re Just Scared” is an insightful track where you’ll find a great performance from the guy on the mic.  While we can always cite & dwell on similarities, “Maybe We’re Just Scared” is a stellar example of how doing things just a little bit differently can make a huge impact.  You’ll notice how Todd plays around with the layers of his vocals on this track, going from one solo voice to multiple, and really allowing that element of his music the opportunity to step into the spotlight.  He’s a big fan of the concept of ‘less is more’ even if he doesn’t feel like he’s able to adhere to that advice – and I’d point to the results of “Maybe We’re Just Scared” as a prime example of why he should.  The moments where his voice is at its most natural on that single layer, are likely the strongest parts of this song as well.  The thick harmonies are a cool dimension of his signature sound, but to be honest, hearing the guy sing without’em can be arguably even better on the listening end.  Anyhow.  More impressive than perhaps anything else, the lyricism of “Maybe We’re Just Scared” is its most noticeable feature.  A song that everyone out there would benefit from really listening to right now, “Maybe We’re Just Scared” highlights the pitfalls of our insecurities & proposes a better way of interacting with each other, because deep down we all know we need one right now.  You’re never gonna find too much out of place on a Todd Underwood record to begin, but this is a stellar example of some of his tightest material from concept to execution, music to the microphone.  Definitely one of my favorite cuts on Chasing Clarity.

“Taking It Back” is probably a little less me than the rest, but there is still much to be admired about its composition.  I think in general, we’re all likely to be impressed by what this dude can do with a guitar, and indeed, you’ll hear some pull off some kickass moves on “Taking It Back” as well – but what really got me was hearing how many accent layers and clever additions he’ll put in to go along with that stellar musicianship of his.  On this track, it’s in the separation…using the lefts and rights to his advantage to create that clarity in the recording and really have things pop out…but you can cite other moves he makes too, like the harmonics on “Maybe We’re Just Scared” for example.  The point is that, while he’s always going to be the guy that will rely on his guitar to create the core of his material, he’s also done an outstanding job of finding ways to do more with it in the surrounding parts he adds in.  “Taking It Back” has some seriously great chops on display, and a bounce to it that I’m sure listeners will respond to.  After learning about his original influence of The Police on his work, I felt like that was something I could really hear inside of “Taking It Back,” which was interesting to me too…it’s not really a vibe that The Police would have created, but you can still hear how that original inspiration plays a role in so much of what Todd creates in his music.  Full of character and personality, “Taking It Back” moves and grooves.

Really effective vocal hook in the chorus of “Talk Too Much,” which probably put this track into the conversation of being one of the album’s best tunes for myself personally.  All-in-all, I’m truly stoked about this cut from start to finish if I’m being honest with ya.  “Talk Too Much” isn’t going to be the single from Chasing Clarity…and I’m cool with that…great songs aren’t always defined by single-worthy sound, you know?  Sometimes a great song can merely be one that resonates with you for your own reasons, which “Talk Too Much” does for me – but I think there’s also a whole other level where you’ll find even those songs that speak most strongly to ya can still grow on you too.  As in, while I really liked “Talk Too Much” right off the bat, the more I listened to this record over the past week or two, the more I became attached to it.  At the point of writing this review, I’m pretty confident Todd’s got a track that I definitely want to remain part of the soundtrack of my life forever from here – this is stellar songwriting.  At 5:50 in length, I was curious as to how he’d go about using the extra space…and I was pleased to find that the guy never overstuffed an ounce of this song.  The chorus is the real payoff here, I’ll be real with you about that…I think everything else around it serves a function and is great to listen to as well, but that chorus…man…it’s like some parts of a song can come with their own neon signs we can’t ignore.  The depth in this song is magnificent to begin with, but listening to the release of energy as Underwood shifts into the chorus is remarkably special to experience…it’s a perfect example of what ‘feelin’ it’ really sounds like.  You can hear the emotion well-up inside him, and get released right into the music – and if that ain’t what true catharsis & healing is about inside creative expression, then I don’t know what it is.

Annnnnnnnd…”you take the good, you take the bad, and there you have, the facts of life”…as they say.  I had a harder time justifying “Burning Out” in this lineup, especially coming right after one of the album’s strongest tracks.  I like the energy that the chorus has, and I like the way that Todd seems to just decide to liven things up and springs into it full steam ahead.  That’s the positive part.  I kind of felt like this one might drag a little bit right from the get-go though…there’s just something distant about “Burning Out” that felt like it was working against itself as a song.  Then you get to the intense & inspired spark in the chorus, and you feel like, well hey, maybe there’s something here after all.  Then you’re back in the verse that seems like it’s missing that inspiration you were just enjoying…and that’s a tough transition.  Then you factor in a bridge that…hmm…yeah I’d have been tempted to scrap that if it was me, but it’s not too much of an intrusion so much as it just feels a little unnecessary and too familiar in this context.  As I’ve said many times I’m sure…Todd always supplies way more reasons to like his music than to not, and he’s still a human being that’s subject to the brutalities of all our of notions of personal taste.  This track didn’t quite hit it for me, though the chorus gave it a shot…but that doesn’t mean it ain’t for you.

“To The Unknown” COULD be one of the record’s best…but I don’t know if I’m willing to say that for a fact as it currently stands.  I’ve got lyrical issues with this one…with the main one being that it’s just a tad on the uneven side.  We’ve literally got some of Todd’s best and the flipside of that coin trying to exist on this same song…and it’s making me want a little more outta the man.  Like…look…we have all heard the saying that “clichés are clichés for a reason” – and that’s true, they are…but they should just as often be a cue for us to immediately do something different and not settle for what’s already been done.  Especially on a song where you’re singing about “taking a new road to the unknown” dammit!   There’s not a doubt in my mind that the chorus of this song steals the show…it is freakin’ AWESOME.  The amount of sincerity and introspective wisdom you can feel in the chorus of this song is nothing short of amazing…it’s absolutely one of my favorite moments on this record.  The verses…not so much.  Like I tell you guys all the time, there’s almost no day on my side of the screen & speakers where I’m not hearing about someone or something flying on a metaphorical level, which Todd dives into in the first couple lines.  Then there are spots like “every turn feels like a brand new ride” that feel a bit too convenient in the rhyme-scheme, as opposed to saying what he really wants to say, or saying it in a way that we haven’t heard something described before.  He’s also getting pretty damn high up there in his vocal register too, and verging on encroaching into terrain occupied by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  I’ll leave it up to Todd to decide if that’s where he wants to aim for with his sound or if that’s something he should steer clear of as best he possibly can.  The bridge…ahh jeez…what are we gonna do with these things, am I right kids?  Everything has gotta sound like it has a purpose, in my opinion.  There’s this thing you encounter with all songwriters that are twenty-eight years old like Todd…they find a verse that works, a chorus they like…and then they get that sinister gleam in their eye as they say to themselves, “NOW WHERE OH WHERE CAN I PUT THAT BRIDGE?”  And it’s like…you know…put one in there if the song is really calling out for one – I’m all for that…but I think doing it for the sake of doing it (a twenty-eight year-old thing) can get you in a bit of trouble, because it’ll sound forced, or without that purpose we wanna hear in the music.  So…yeah…I think spots like the bridge in “To The Unknown” are potentially problematic in that regard…I also think the ending of this track was like watching a diver hit the water sideways…those are the toughest spots in this cut, and it’s almost hard to listen to because MAN THE CHORUS in this song is FREAKIN’ GOLD.  Pure freakin’ gold.  I don’t even mind the verses here…they’re not my favorite, but they do provide great contrast for the chorus to shine even brighter, so all for that.  As for the bridge…I don’t think it’s needed here, and the final minute might have been one of the first real WTF Todd moments that I’ve ever had.  Like, every time I listened to “To The Unknown” I wondered what the heck I was missing!?!  It’s got such extraordinary potential, but just kinda fizzles out on itself.

I mean…take it all with a grain of salt – it’s no secret to me that Todd’s got a wealth of knowledge in music that far, far exceeds my own – I’d trust him before trusting anything I say, for the record.  Having said that, this is the seventh album I’ve reviewed from the guy too…so I do have some relevant insight as to where he’s crushing it versus where he’s wandered off a bit into left field.  I think as creative types of people we can latch onto the tiniest fragments of what we make at times, and that without being completely brutally objective, we can convince ourselves that those tiny pieces of our art can justify the whole shebang.  And maybe that’s true enough on the other side of the speakers – I’ve always said that one great moment in a song can get everyone onboard to listen.  When you’re in the context of records over twelve tracks in total though, that’s usually where I’m gonna start eyeballing things with an even more scrutiny, wondering what could have possibly been cut to tighten the lineup.  So far, “Burning Out” was the first track to make me consider its place…but I came to the conclusion that the chorus was likely going to be enough to justify it.  As for “Wouldn’t Trade It For Anything” – I’m not sure there’s quite enough here to keep it around.  While spinning my way through the record this week, I kept hoping that I might warm up to the chorus hooks…but that never seemed to happen.  It all feels a little on the thin side of an idea here…my favorite part of this song is likely the last thirty seconds or so where Todd lets his guitar do the talkin’ for him…it felt like that could have played a more prominent role.  I even like the way that the first line of the verse reaches out to us…in fact, I had days where I felt like the verses might even be the stronger part of this particular song.  By the time I got around to writing this though, it just felt like “Wouldn’t Trade It For Anything” measured up to the album’s strongest material surrounding it.

I can appreciate ideas like “Enough,” even if I’m not fully sold on them.  Lyrically, I like what he has to say here very much…if I was judging by that aspect alone, “Enough” would be up there with the best of the best.  I might harp on this thing or that thing in the reviews I write, but make no mistake, I’ve noticed the growth in his lyricism overall, and I feel like “Enough” is a solid example of some of his best.  Again…consider the overall concept – Chasing Clarity – it plays a huge role in songs like “Enough” or “Maybe We’re Just Scared” earlier on.  If you’re paying close attention, you’ll realize that Todd’s doing his part to highlight what’s causing the disconnect & divide between us…and from what I can tell, he ain’t wrong in his observations.  I also think the ending of “Enough” is a phenomenal idea…I don’t know that I’d say it came out in a way that gets the most out of its potential, but it’s close.  I’d certainly dig it if more folks out there took their cues from Todd and swung for the fence to say something in their music rather than just write another song about chicks & cars, even if it doesn’t always work out completely.  The dude’s musicianship is always right on the money, so quite often it just comes down to whether or not Todd’s written a song that’ll keep people engaged with it…and in moments like where you can end up with something that might make a bigger impression from one aspect, like the lyricism in this case, sometimes you’ll get lucky and that can carry the weight of the rest.  I don’t mind the bulk of “Enough” and feel like the verses came out really strong in the mellowest part of the melody, but for the most part, I feel like “Enough” has its main ability to connect to listeners through Todd’s insightful lyricism.

A great example of a song that will likely grow on you is “Chasing Clarity In A Stormy Sea.”  While I was reasonably sure that’d be the case as I got about halfway into it for the first time, I was stoked to find that I could already feel this one grow on me by the time it was finished.  The longest track on the album, Todd was wise to expand this song out as far as he does, in my opinion.  The real magic of “Chasing Clarity In A Stormy Sea” is found in its repetition…and that takes…well…some repetition to be able to make the impact Underwood intends it to, right?  So even though it seems like it wants to wander a bit as the song begins, you’ll hear how this all starts to come together to create a bigger picture soon enough.  Essentially, the backing layers of this track can be considered to be every bit as important as what you hear on the surface, if not arguably even more important to the overall results.  That being said, it wasn’t until “Chasing Clarity In A Stormy Sea” really started to lean into its repetition that I felt like it began to tap into the best of what it could offer.  Somewhere around the 2:30-ish mark I think…maybe a bit closer to the 3:00 mark…you can feel this song begin to spread out into a disillusioned attitude that’s vibrantly disconnected…like how you can get lost in a Ketamine fog in the process of observing your life from a third-person point of view…and honestly, it’s a remarkable highlight.  You get to spend so much quality time with this mesmerizing moment…nearly three entire minutes, lost in the fog of repetition that WORKS.  While it can often be a tool of the uninspired, when it’s used effectively, you get stunning moments like this where you wouldn’t have it any other way.  Listening to Todd find his way through “Chasing Clarity In A Stormy Sea” was a fantastic experience – I’d even go as far as to say that the repetition in this song is one of the album’s most memorable moments.

Yep…there we go…breakin’ chains and such.  Todd my man…what are we gonna do with you brother?  You keep on teasing us with some moments of insightful brilliance…lyrical WISDOM we could all benefit from hearing…and then mixing in some of those well-worn metaphors that we’ve all heard too many times.  Focus on the uniqueness my friend – your music deserves it!  I know you’re only twenty-eight years-old and all – but do me this favor…and ask yourself, ‘have I already written a song where I sang about breaking the chains in some way?’  I haven’t gone through the whole catalog, but the point is that we kind of have this like, real-life Scrabble bag filled with words and scenarios that songwriters love to rely on…and we have to find ways to actively rebel against our natural instincts at times in order to be able to do things differently.  Because honestly, I don’t fault Todd or any of you for coming to similar conclusions on how to go about writing a song – it makes complete and total sense that we WOULD with so many of us roaming the planet making music.  So…yeah man…sure there’s the occasional line that we’re all going to come to where we think we’re saying something new, or even saying something differently than everyone else has…and it’s kind of tougher to know what those common threads are between songwriters unless you’re on my side of the speakers constantly listening – I get that.  At the same time, we’re all music fans…and if Todd hasn’t written about breaking chains before himself, I can just as easily guarantee that he’s heard a song or two where it’s been mentioned along the way.  So steer clear of that stuff my man…more often than not, these wonderful things that songwriters like to keep tucked away in their pocket waiting for the right part of the rhyme-scheme to pair with, usually don’t say half as much as we’re really hoping they will.  Anyhow…I’m off on a tangent here, and the reality is that I actually really like “Blank Slate” when it comes right down to it.  I think the verses sound great, I love the chorus, and the space in the instrumentation really made an impact in this song – heck, I even liked the ending where Todd strips it all back to a bass groove and fades the song out!  When was the last time anyone read on these pages of ours that I liked someone’s fade?  Never?  It genuinely seems to fit here…so I’m not complaining.  I’m really not complaining about how anything in “Blank Slate” sounds, I swear…I’m just observing and waxing poetically in what Todd might want to be aware of for the future to follow.  Or maybe not so poetically, but you get the idea.  The real bottom line is that the chorus of “Blank Slate” is more than enough to convince me to keep listening…I freakin’ love that part!  That moment alone might very well be worth the total price of your admission to Chasing Clarity.

“Milton Wins.”  Well, I’m glad someone’s winning.  I’ve been wondering who it was, so it’s nice to have a name to go with the concept…that’s about as close as I’ll get personally I’d imagine.  Who is Milton, really?  I have no idea.  I’ll be real with ya, ever since the release of Office Space way back in 1999, that’s the only Milton I ever think of when I hear the name…and hopefully the dude has got his stapler back by now.  Do I think Mr. Underwood has written this fictional character a tributary song?  No, I do not.  Though, to be truthful with ya…I could probably twist enough of the words in “Milton Wins” to suit that narrative well enough.  Not a bad track though…it’s a mellower, mid-tempo type of energy…difficult for the masses to naturally grab onto with its back & forth pace, but there’s meat on the bone worth chewing here.  It’s also a fantastic example of an extra part (maybe even a small bridge?) that worked out brilliantly…you listen to the final words on “Milton Wins” and tell me that ain’t the best part of the whole song!  This cut is way more subtle and restrained overall, but the parts that make the biggest impression on ya will likely leave a lasting one…so I think I’m cool with that.  Great guitar parts once again…solid production…Todd’s voice is crystal clear and he’s projecting bold, confident tones…you can tell how well he’s prepared for this moment by the way he sings “Milton Wins” with such sure & steady tones.  I mean, look…it’s not going to be the first song that leaps out at everybody by comparison to a lot of what surrounds it, but I would think that most people out there will eventually come around to realizing this is a really well-written cut.

Todd hates the Prog label that often gets associated with his music, and I hear him on that.  The simplest way of getting that to stop would be to stop making Rock/Pop as complex as he chooses to.  If he were to do that, I don’t think it’d even come up…just sayin.’  As I listen to a track like “Community” though, I feel like it’s gonna be tough for him to get what he’s looking for without some kind of compromise.  On the surface, “Community” has all the right welcoming tones and a decent enough hook to bring people in to listen, but the more than you dig into it, the more you realize how much more is being done with an artistic mindset, as opposed to focusing on the accessibility of it all.  Now…you choose whichever you feel is the more important element, and you’ll get no judgments from me…just understand it can be damn tough to achieve both things at the same time.  If you’re adding in pre-choruses, solos, and bridges to your tunes, you’re gonna end up being in the same breath as a lot of Prog music – I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just objectively tellin’ ya what’ll happen.  So in Todd’s case, it’s inescapable, because he loves all that kind of stuff we’ve typically associated with great songwriting for years and years throughout history.  The definition both myself and this young man of only twenty-eight years grew up with regarding Prog music has morphed and changed to basically mean anything that’s not strictly verse-chorus-verse these days, and while we might mourn the loss of its factual definition, we’re long past the point where we’ll win that battle.  Hell, if anything, we’re on our way to anything over a twenty-five second clip on a Tik Tok video will soon be labelled as Prog, so heads up on that Todd.  All that being said, I think there’s an argument to be made that keeping a song like “Community” as clean and uncomplicated as possible very likely could have increased its accessibility overall.  What Todd has in there that would be considered accessible is pretty mighty stuff when it comes right down to – like, most folks are really gonna love the sound of so much of what they hear…but then he goes and shoots himself in the foot by adding in more color, artistic depth & dimension, when we’re all trying to hold our lighters up and simply sing along?  How DARE YOU Mr. Underwood.  C’mon and read the room, will ya?

Ohhhhhhh we like to joke around and have a good time, don’t we?  Todd’s a true gem and gentleman y’all, just in case you thought I was thinking anything else.  I give him a harder time than most, because I know he’s built for it and can take my special brand of needlin.’  I am ecstatic to release the second part of his video interview with him this upcoming Friday…and I genuinely hope you all go out and “Listen” to some of his tunes.  He puts a superhuman amount of effort in doing all that he does…don’t be fooled by how much comes naturally to the guy or all the talent he has, it still takes a TON of effort to go the DIY route and sound as good as he does.  He’s playin’ all those instruments…singing all those songs…twistin’ all those knobs on the studio boards back & forth…all of it…all Todd…all for YOU.  I mean, I’m gonna assume that he’d still be doing what he does even if none of us listened, because that’s what it’s like to be a real musician where you eat, sleep, and breathe the music…but you get the point – don’t let his efforts go to waste, and “Listen.”  The final track on his new record wraps the set-list up tightly…I’ve got no substantial complaints to make about it, and I’m not going to tell ya it’s the cut the lineup needed either – it’s consistent and adheres to Underwood’s high standards, and that’s all it really needs to be.  I mean, I can only hope he hears the word ‘consistent’ to describe his music more than he hears ‘Prog.’  I dig it though…”Listen” is a good tune, and once again, Todd’s highlighting some crucially important stuff that I can only hope penetrates the mass consciousness of the modern day.  Real listening is a skill that we’re losing touch with, so much more quickly than I’d have ever imagined watching it dissolve.  But if you’re one of those people that is simply listening for the space as someone talks to interject with whatever it is you wanna say next…spoiler alert – you’re doin’ it wrong.  That’s why these reviews I write aren’t just a paragraph long like my peers tend to write…because I do my best to truly “Listen” to what people create, and then have a conversation about it with y’all out there.  In my humble opinion, your music deserves that at the very least…so “Listen” to it, discuss it, and share the heck out of it with someone else!  After you “Listen,” do your part and help spread the word.  Great music needs our support or it just stops getting made…so do the right thing and tune in so that we get a whole lot more from Todd Underwood over the years to follow – our music scene needs committed artists like him.

Find out more about Todd Underwood from his page at Instagram here:  https://www.instagram.com/toddunderwoodmusic

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