A Step Forward

Artist: Derek Webb
Album: Stockholm Syndrome
Label: INO Records (more or less)

Has Derek Webb become obsessed with his own controversial image? Is he slipping into that ugly universe of angry activists and pompous protesters who are so consumed with their own soapboxes that they forget about, well, everything else?

Having not talked to Webb personally, I can’t answer such questions with absolute certainty. But I can comment upon his latest album, Stockholm Syndrome, which is a remarkable piece of work that might just be the crowning achievement of his career, despite the slough of controversy surrounding its original release. If you’re really curious about said controversy, just do a quick internet search on Stockholm Syndrome in your free time. Personally, I am more interested in the album as a work of art, as a powerful musical statement produced by a distinctly talented craftsman.

Perhaps you have heard that on Stockholm Syndrome, Webb ditches the singer-songwriter strumming, the simple song structures, and the folk-tinged protest formula that characterized his earlier albums. You heard correctly. From start to finish, Stockholm Syndrome is an electronica-infused, highly manipulated, beat-heavy thunderstorm of a record.

What’s really impressive, however, is that despite all the twiddling of knobs and layering of synthesizer blips and bleeps, Webb’s pure, unadulterated voice still commands the attention of his listeners. And he hasn’t changed the topic of conversation. The big issues of oppression, poverty, and hypocrisy still saturate every song. This time, however, Webb manages to link his particular brand of socio-political awareness to creative and unusual musical forms, a bizarre marriage that diminishes neither and makes both more memorable.

“Black Eye” might be the most successful demonstration of this combination, as Webb’s earnest voice sounds casually confident over a sea of synthesizers and extra-equalized drums. “Cobra Con” continues to press the tempo with a chorus that kicks hard and lyrics that produce more puzzles than solutions. In fact, many of the lyrics on the album are, like the music that adorns them, artistically damaged and noticeably fragmentary. In this way, Webb forces his listeners to fill in the gaps, to make interpretive decisions.

For instance, I originally assumed “The Spirit vs. The Kick Drum” was just a fun song about nothing in particular. However, when I paid closer attention to the words Webb was singing, I released that it was no throw-away party song but a clever description of the ways in which we make God fit into our preconceived notions of what He should be.

Webb follows up this observation with “What Matters More,” which hammers home one of Webb’s favorite themes—that Christians should stop worrying about the little outward rules and regulations they have devised and start paying attention to the suffering of those who live next door to them. And he does all this over an addictive beat that sounds more like Kid A-era Radiohead than anything I’ve heard in a while.

Allow me to break stride and be very clear at this point. Stockholm Syndrome is not just a musical megaphone for Webb’s personal views on society and the state. It is at its very core a groundbreaking display of artistic prowess, a brilliant mish-mash of hip-hop, art-rock, retro-pop, and easy listening. Each song is different, each is unique, and each brings its own set of sonic delights. There are stale moments, sure, but there are also several transcendent passages, passages that rival anything happening in popular music this millennium. Forget the controversy for a minute. Forget all your preconceptions about Derek Webb and his message. Approach the album with open ears, and be prepared to be blown away.