Blueanimal
Figment That Was Me
(Blueanimal Records)

A heavy bass surfs under “On My Mind,” as vocalist/guitarist and songwriter Luke Elms breathes into our nightmares and Blueanimal keep themselves locked and loaded until the chorus for this dangerous snakelike opener on the band’s new album Figment That Was Me.

We get some more slinky stuff, as an electric guitar picks with keys mixed around it on one of my more favorite here of the earlier tunes, “Anyone But Me.” The piano runs and Matt Lube’s bass are also delicious and show a depth of sound to Blueanimal I wasn’t first expecting. But I love it.

What happens just about at the halfway point here, is real fun. All of a sudden we are into acoustic ballad territory with tunes like “What Does It All Mean,” “Because of You,” and “Searching.” We get some well-placed female harmonies, drummer Aaron Gandie subtly laying in and really just the band turning their sound upside down as they show their quieter side.

“Better Than This,” ends, with just Elms singing over an acoustic.

Blueanimal manages more than most with their sound and production on this, their third album. A lot of thought went behind what’s presented here and the lyrics, which I thought at first was going to be wildly “oh-whoa-is-me” introspective, actually seems to bring the narrator, and us the listener, to an awareness. Figment That Was Me is solid listening.