'Song of the Week': 'Frightened Rabbit-"Not Miserable"

When I last spoke to Frightened Rabbit fromtman, Scott Hutchinson about what was next for the band and the pressure of their next record, he stated ...."Does anyone want to hear me sing a break-up song again? I think I've covered it." Indeed following up 08's brilliant The Midnight Organ Fight was no easy task for the band, with critics and fans falling in love with the brutally honest and personal take of Hutchinson's dissolved relationship on that disc. It's definitely one of my favorite albums of the last several years and with the new disc hitting stores, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, I was anxious to hear the bands latest direction. So often in life high expectations just fall short, but I honestly have to say that the disc sucked me in on it's first listen and has been growing on me more and more with each additional spin. Granted it's not another break-up record, but what did you expect 'The Midnight Organ Fight pt2'? The disc shows a writer moving forward after the chaos of his relationship, maturing in front of us, and dealing with the pieces that are left. Hutchinson to me, cements himself as one of the best songwriters around right now, the guy just flat out knows how to capture the uneasyness of love.
In "Footshooter" he sings...."And if I shoot at you, you should shoot at me too. And we can drown in pools of the thick dark words we threw" and there's this from "Swim Until You Can't See Land" ..."Let’s call me a baptist, call this the drowning of the past, She’s there on the shoreline, throwing stones at my back."
There's still the same charm in the music that 'TMOF' had and the band expanded their line-up, and streched the depth of their sound, but if I had to some up 'The Winter of Mixed Drinks' I would have you listen to one of my favorites off the disc,"Not Miserable" to show just how Hutchinson is moving forward, and so should fans expecting another 'Midnight Organ Fight'. Check it out below.



"Not Miserable"

Well this is easier now
I found all the pieces I lost in the flood
And it wasn't that much
And though it's easier now
I will always remember the night that I almost drowned
All alone in a house

And the love that I lost
With all of the shit that came out in the wash
Just a pocket of fluff
I'm not put upon
I am free of from disease no greys, no liver-spots
Most of the misery's gone... gone, gone to the bone

I'm not miserable now
No one knows
No one knows
I'm not miserable

So the hymns that I sung
Prayers for the fucked, from a bitter, forked tongue
Sing of history now
Though the corners are lit
The dark can return with the flick of a switch
It hasn't turned on me yet, yet

I'm not miserable now
No one knows
No one knows

I'm not miserable now
No one knows
No one knows
I'm not miserable

Well this is easier now
I found all the pieces I lost in the flood
And it wasn't that much

and here's our previously mentioned interview with Scott from 2008.


more Frightened Rabbit on myspace.