“Brighter Discontent”
from the album Declare a New State!
2006
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There are always two sides to every story. In the case of Declare a New State!, the new album by the Submarines, there are two sides to the same breakup.
Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti (Jack Drag) made music together, figuratively and literally before breaking up and going their separate ways in music and life. Serious relationships often take more than one breakup, so when Hazard and Dragonetti eventually reconvened, they realized that they both had written songs based on their time apart; two distinctly different takes on the same shared life experience. The yin and yang of their responses creating a cohesive, extremely likable and emotional album about love both unconditional and fading, the struggle to make love work, longing for a former lover, and acceptance of the reality of the situation.
The album itself is a metaphor for a romantic relationship where individuality and teamwork are of equal importance in the joint challenge of keeping it all together. You’ll immediately be drawn into the Hazard songs, like the Lisa Loeb-esque “Brighter Discontent,“ about suddenly finding yourself alone again. Looking back at a relationship through the artifacts inside a once shared home Hazard sings, “A breaking heart in an empty apartment was the loudest sound I never heard.”
Hazard also shines in “Ready or Not,” a low key almost trip hop track with a Sneaker Pimps vibe where she asks “Does every day feel like a brand new chance to fall apart?” The album really comes together on the tracks where Hazard and Dragonetti team up, putting their reconciliation on display for our benefit and you hope, theirs. It’s an interesting dynamic best displayed in “Modern Invention” where Hazard sounding like a slightly bored Jenny Lewis trades leads with Dragonetti’s Lou Barlow impression over loops and an angelic chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on a Flaming Lips record. It’s like a slightly sweeter Neko Case joining the Postal Service.
Declare a New State! sounds like a Sunday afternoon, where everything past seems washed away and the possibilities ahead are endless, especially when you’re in love.