If Edward Sharpe was a real person, his music would be the perfect analogy for him. He would be a messianic figure, open to all, comforting but not without his own past. Messianic is a stretch, but it’s the truth. Edward Sharpe is the fiction character created by emblematic frontman Alex Ebert. Maintaining the messiah analogy — if Up From Below is the Old Testament, then the second installment of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Here, is nothing short of the hyped up New Testament.
“Man on Fire” could be an excerpt, a perfect snap shot of the album. Folky and warm, it proves the burst into stardom garnered by the 2010 single “Home” hasn’t changed much in the Magnetic Zeros camp. Ebert’s voice still has that ambivalent tone that can be sad when you want it to, but uplifting like a gospel song if you want it to. Simple rhythms attract all listeners to join in when Ebert asks “the whole damn world to come dance with me.” There’s not a single hint of dissonance or discord, nothing strange to scare away even the most brittle of ears. Except the didgeridoo. And regardless of the artist, when songs build and have the whole band sing along to a chorus, you can’t help but feel invited. But to my ears the trademark of this band is their inviting sound, and their use of everyone in the band in the same way brings a sense of unity to the song.
Back to the messianic character at hand. In the book where he was first imagined up, he had come to bring the world peace but kept getting distracted by love and women. It’s no surprise that the album can act as the story of Edward, as first tracks “Man on Fire” and “That’s What’s Up” bring out both sides of love and both sides of the band. Edward uses the theme of love as both a pusher and a power source: “That’s What’s Up” really gets grooving and moving, hand clapping solos and all, while “Man on Fire” acts as a mirror for the low points in life, highlighting the low end of the musical spectrum and of this character’s saga.
It seems like at the moment this band can do no wrong. They’re on top of the world because they’re down to earth, and this album serves as another example as to why Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are in a class of very few at the top. They’ve even managed to replace Arcade Fire in the “I saw them before they were big” conversations worldwide.