A Sober Conversation

No fan of BC Camplight ever has to spend much time wondering how Brian Christinzio is doing -- hes happy to tell us all the details each time he makes an album. Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Christinzio for all purposes is BC Camplight, and his very confessional work has kept us up to date on his problems with relationships, mental health, immigration status, drugs and alcohol, and a wide variety of other matters making his life difficult. The great paradox is Christinzio can also write great, imaginative pop melodies, and his music often sounds bright and engaging even though his lyrics are witty but usually somewhere between mildly troubled and truly harrowing. Since Christinzio last checked in with us on 2023s The Last Rotation of Earth, he has been working through the painful memories of abuse inflicted on him as a child, and after years of unsuccessful self-medicating, hes given up drugs and alcohol. 2025s A Sober Conversation touches on youthful trauma, but it devotes a lot more time to Christinzios struggles as an adult with liquor, drugs, and grown-up responsibility. Lyrically, his take on his troubles is intelligent and honest, the words of a man whose brutal honesty includes his knowledge of when hes lying to himself -- "When I Make My First Million" is a graceful study in the fine art of self-delusion, while "Two Legged Dog" is a slinky samba-flavored number thats also a pitiless exploration of his misdeeds, and "Drunk Talk" manages to be a sophisticated snapshot of one man surrounded by extensions of his own bad choices. Christinzios vocals express his themes eloquently without histrionics or self-pity, and his keyboard work is first class, a mature take on pop melodicism that can balance seriousness with a playful sophistication. Hopefully, some day Christinzio will be able to make a BC Camplight album without having to put himself through so much grief to fuel his creative process, but he knows how to make his pain meaningful without showboating, and A Sober Conversation is that rarity, a top-shelf pop album that also has something important to tell us. ~ Mark Deming