Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Arizona, Atlantic/APG Records 2019.
Asylum is the second album release from New Jersey trio Arizona and it sees them further develop their fusion of pop styles and lyrics that engage in social commentary.
The album title was a conscious decision because it reflected the situation the band found themselves in trying to live up to the hype that followed their debut release.
“We felt the pressure of record two” says Arizona’s David Labuguen.
It was the classic sophomore album dilemma… We had to rethink our friendships and the way we worked… We had to create an asylum for ourselves and centre back on why we do this in the first place.”
Asylum; an inviolable place of refuge and protection… a place of retreat and security.
While the band were seeking their own self-imposed asylum to create their album they were aware of the plight of the millions of migrants in the world forced to escape persecution and marginalisation, for whom the prospect of asylum is a life and death matter.
This focus naturally found its way into their lyrics.
Their aim was to make a striking comment on the complexities confronting us, a sort of “survival manual for troubled times.”
This is a worthy ideal and I applaud their intentions, however, I’m not sure that the album quite achieves their lofty goals.
It seems to me that they have focussed far too much on personal relationships and responsibilities, freedoms etc. As they put it “practising self-worth and self-care.”
While these things are commendable they are hardly going to have an impact on the larger issues they set out to tackle.
The album feels more like a self-improvement manual rather than a manifesto for political change.
Then again, at least the lads were aware of forced migration and asylum issues facing the world, and in a pop album they can’t be expected to engage in a polemic so mired in the politics of power and division that it forces many of us to go back to bed and pull up the covers.
