Sorority Noise is a band that, more than most, embraces the personal. Last year, the Connecticut natives released their third studio album, “You’re Not As _____ As You Think,” an emotionally-charged LP inspired by the death of vocalist Cameron Boucher’s close friend. Following the same lyrical style as previous albums “Forgettable” and “Joy, Departed,” “You’re Not As _____ As You Think” is unflinching and uncomfortable: a candid and intimate discussion of friendship, grief and mental illness that feels just as cathartic for members of the band as it does for listeners.
On Friday, one year after the release of “You’re Not As _____ As You Think”, Sorority Noise released “YNAAYT” — an orchestral reworking of their previous album. This revised album features all but two of the original tracks (“Where Are You?” and “New Room”). In their place is an orchestral cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” and a new original track titled “Windowwww.”
Lyrically unchanged, these string rearrangements, produced and performed by Michael Underwood, are intended to “evoke a different perspective for the songs and the record as a whole,” according to Sorority Noise’s website.
Not surprisingly, “YNAAYT” is a beautiful album, rife with intricate melodies and interesting string work. Also not surprisingly, the reworked tracks don’t feel much different from the first time we heard them, except that they’re melancholy in a different way. “You’re Not As _____ As You Think” gave us grief and gave it loudly, with pounding bass lines and searing distorted guitar riffs. “YNAAYT” is more musically somber, more dulled and diluted, softer and gentler. And while the original songs and their reworked counterparts have wildly different musicality, Boucher’s vocal style and delivery remain unchanged between the two renditions. We’re left with heartfelt acoustic reworkings that, try as they might, can’t compare with the prototypes we fell in love with.
The addition of Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” to the album is an interesting one that I’m not sure entirely pays off in the end. While a perfectly fine cover, it doesn’t elaborate much on the original and, if given the choice between the two, I would choose Cohen’s every time (or even Lana del Rey’s — all three sound almost identical). Boucher has not spoken about his choice to eliminate original songs “Where Are You?” and “New Room” from the reworked album, though I would be curious to know why.
Perhaps because it’s new, or perhaps because it’s reminiscent of Sorority Noise’s 2016 EP “It Kindly Stopped for Me,” or perhaps still because it’s a bright spot in all this gloom, “Windowwww” is the best song to come from “YNAAYT.” The closing track on the record, we’re left with Boucher’s words echoing in our minds: “It occurs to me that I’ve never been this happy in my life.”
A few days after “YNAAYT”’s release, Sorority Noise announced that they will be going on hiatus following their nearly sold-out spring tour with up-and-coming emo band Remo Drive.
In an online statement, Boucher said, “I consider each person in this band and crew to be a member of my family and I love them with every ounce of my being but I think it’s in my heart and mind’s best interest to take a break from the band for a while.”
Given the intensely emotional content of Sorority Noise’s last two albums, it seems a fitting time for the band to take a step back. Sorority Noise drummer Charlie Singer also lost a friend to suicide recently, and it was that loss that inspired much of “Slow Burn,” the latest album for Boucher and Singer’s other band, Old Gray. After the release of these three albums in particular, it seems that the pair have processed as much as they can with their art.
More than anything, “YNAAYT” feels like a resolution, like the period at the end of this sentence. It feels like an album made for the artists and not for the audience. It feels not like an end to trauma or grief, but like an acceptance — a finding balance in a world that has long been teetering. In other words, it seems like a perfect place to pause.
Sorority Noise will be playing a sold-out show at Kings in Raleigh on Friday, March 30.
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