by Tom Alexander (@___alexd)
Sean Henry’s musical career is still very young, but it’s already possible to trace out broad periods, or phases, in his discography. There’s his early work as Boy Crush and High Pop: inviting, comfortable lo-fi, jangle pop rock. Then there’s his first two full-length releases as Sean Henry: It’s All About Me and Fink, two loosely psychedelic records that embraced an “anything-for-the-melody” approach (one of his best songs, “The Ants,” for example uses a nursery rhyme in its bridge). Fink especially felt like a stripped-back record; this record label debut (Double Double Whammy) emphasized hooks over the moods and dreams of his past works.
That brings us to A Jump From The High Dive, Sean Henry’s new album, and I’ll cut to the chase: it’s the best record of his career. More than that, A Jump From The High Dive signals a change in Henry’s approach to songwriting. The melodies are as strong as ever, but his pop-forward approach is now married with a more patient ear for detail. Where Fink felt like it sprang out of Henry’s fingertips, A Jump From The High Dive feels more considered and carefully crafted. It’s a direct response to Fink. He’s taken the same immediacy and energy from his previous work and poured it into songs that are a little more patient and reserved. In recent interviews, Henry has talked about his move back to Connecticut from New York, and the adjustment that comes with slower-pace life and fewer distractions. Internalizing that change of scenery, A Jump From The High Dive sounds like it comes from a different place altogether, both geographically and emotionally. Even though scarcely more than a year separates the releases of Fink and A Jump From The High Dive, significant life changes make them feel further apart than they actually are.
The record is a stylistic chameleon, and its three great advance singles (“Rain Rain,” “Surf Song,” and “You Fall Away”) foreshadowed this. Much like a chameleon, it’s the colors and patterns that change here – not the overall form or skeleton. In other words, while each song is quite different from one another in their mood and tone, what unites them is Henry’s close ear for melody and pacing. Every song is catchy, and every song is memorable, but each could have conceivably been pulled from 11 separate bands’ catalogs. “So Real” has the same closed-eye dreaminess of an Oasis tune; “You Fall Away” could easily be mistaken for an early Radiohead track; squint your eyes “Surf Song” is a Superchunk staple; “Touch the Sun” would have been one of Black Francis/Frank Black’s greatest hits. This is what the FM radio sounds like in Sean Henry’s world.
A Jump From The High Dive might use a lot of paints from the palette of the ‘90s, but Henry’s songwriting owes more to the power-pop classics of Big Star, Todd Rundgren, and Guided by Voices (if you’d want to call them power pop). These songs are built around a central idea (i.e., the melody), but Henry and co-producer Brian Antonucci playfully add overdubs and backing tracks to give Henry’s music a fuller sound than he’s ever had before. In that way, these songs are deceptively simple: they catch you immediately with their hooks, and it’s not until repeat listens that you notice the faint scratches or hums on your favorite tracks. The album’s first single, “Rain Rain,” pulls its chorus from a melody Sean Henry made up as a child – it’s simple and straightforward. The track’s grasp of mood, its slight organ/key fills, its backing harmonies, its small bass transitions, all work together to deliver that melody as a nostalgic pop hit, and every song is like this! In doing so, Sean Henry sacrifices none of the lo-fi, DIY lovability that he made his name on, but A Jump From The High Dive marks his evolution from a very good songwriter into a fantastic one.