Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy and Modest Mouse has released his second solo album, Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go. After years of living in Modesto, Los Angeles, and Portland in between touring, Fairchild and his lady Natasha Wheat moved permanently to Chicago in 2007. This album grew from his reflections on this cold, gritty, and unfamiliar setting, but it is not a depressing album by any means. Instead, the gray city seems to have generated renewed feelings of hope and discovering opportunity.

The promo text promises, “It’s WAY more rock-style than his last release; more epic, more full of amazing minute details and huge pop hooks.” I was glad to see that description, because I found Fairchild’s first solo effort, 2007’s 10 Readings of a Warning, rather bland after only a couple of listens. This new set of songs is much snappier with nuances and edges that the first lacked. Songs like “The Brightest Beyond” and “All You Are Is a Human, Sir” are framed in musical swells of optimism.

At this writing, I have not had time to thoroughly analyze Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go, but it is definitely something I feel like coming back to. I really like the Beatle-esque harmonies on “Foxes In the Furnace” and in addition to the two songs I mentioned above, another favorite is “Our Final Roles As Birds.”

All Smiles: Our Final Roles As Birds from Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go (2009)

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Filed under: album review, All Smiles, Jim Fairchild

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