Shortly After Takeoff

He may have returned to the U.K., but Brian Christinzios post-deportation blues remain, as do his mental health struggles, which suffered further damage after the sudden death of his father. Fortunately, his sharp wit and gallows humor are in abundance on Shortly After Takeoff, the Philadelphian singer/songwriters third album since relocating to Manchester, getting signed to Bella Union, getting deported, and eventually moving back. Working under the name BC Camplight, Christinzio writes literate, self-effacing, darkly funny songs about his personal life in a tone similar to Stephin Merritt or Father John Misty, though his pop savvy recalls the sophistication of Brian Wilson or Todd Rundgren, albeit with a maverick synth-punk streak. Following 2018s cathartic Deportation Blues, Shortly After Takeoff completes what he refers to as his Manchester trilogy and the specter of his fathers passing looms large within these enigmatic pop songs. An eerie textural atmosphere hangs like a mist throughout the album which dips and dives in surprising bursts of melody, harmony, and unexpected discord. Christinzio is a master craftsman in terms of song structure, building tension and discomfort only to provide a glorious uplift and rhythmic shift on the chorus of opener, I Only Drink When Im Drunk. The wonderful Back to Work follows a similar path in reverse, delivering cinematic verses that reference his mother and Die Hard in a soaring falsetto before upending the cart into a stuttering sludgy chorus. Cemetery Lifestyle, another highlight, stands as the albums most upbeat cut and offers plenty to love in terms of wonky production -- cheap-sounding Casios, Theremin, surf organ -- and playful Nilsson-esque charm. Among the albums heaping bouquet of standouts is Christinzios piece de resistance, Ghosthunting, an exquisitely crafted orchestral mini-suite concerning his fathers death that begins with a faux standup routine and segues into an emotionally haunting ballad beset with understated comic zingers like at the funeral, my cousin, he asked me in small talk, are you making the people dance? I said sure and thought to myself, who does he think I am, Tame Impala? Written from the heart and dredged from pop musics boneyard, Shortly After Takeoff feels like the album Christinzio has been working toward his whole career. ~ Timothy Monger