Windows Down, Volume Up: Fruition’s Something More

Within thirty seconds, I knew exactly what kind of record this was. Something More, the eighth album from Portland's Fruition, is a windows-down, volume-up kind of record. It sounds like a band that's been on the road for almost twenty years and wanted to write a love letter to every mile of it.

You can hear that history in how the album was made. Fruition wrote a lot of it together, in the same room, during writing trips out to Colorado and Southern California. Then they took the songs to producer Tucker Martine, who's worked with The Decemberists and My Morning Jacket. The band says he got so involved he basically became a sixth member. The group is built around three songwriters, Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebroek, and Mimi Naja, with Jeff Leonard on bass and Tyler Thompson on drums, and the thing that grabbed me first was the harmony. It's also their first album for Bloodshot Records, and it comes out August 28.

The best thing about this band is that they don't stay in one genre, and the track list shows it right away. “Compass” starts off quiet and then rocks out, which is a fun way to kick off a record that keeps you guessing. “Oh Well” has a funky groove and some great pedal steel, that's Anderson pulling double duty. It's a song about hitting rock bottom and getting past it, but you can still dance to it.

From there the album goes just about everywhere. “Matters of the Heart” has a nice harmonica line and lets Naja take the lead. Her voice is great, and the harmonies behind her are one of the best parts of the whole record. “How Does It Feel” has a jazzy feel right off the top and a big sound. And then there's “Reason to Live,” which might be the best song on the album. When Anderson sings “cause I was living loud on borrowed time. fake it till you make it makes it all alright,” it sums up the whole record in one shot: an honest admission you can still sing along to. It's the one I kept coming back to, and the first song I'd play for someone new to the band.

The middle of the album is where Fruition show they can rock. “Forward” cruises along until a filthy guitar solo rips through the middle. “I'm Not Afraid” catches you off guard with how heavy it gets for a band you might have pegged as folk. The title track slows things back down into something quieter and more poetic.

The back half has two songs that really let the band stretch out. “Somewhere Down the Line” is full and busy, with a wild array of instruments and a horn section that's a nice touch. But “By Now” is the one that stuck with me. It's the most out-there song on the album, the sound of five people following the music wherever it wants to go. I can picture it closing a set or landing as an encore, stretched out even longer live. It feels like the band gave themselves room to explore, and that's what makes it fun.

Not every song hits. “All Over” closes the album, and to me it feels more like filler than a real ending. But that's a small complaint on an album with this much going on.

Here's the honest part: this was my first time really listening to Fruition, and I came away impressed. Their sound is all over the place in the best way, and it's hard to put them in one box, which seems to be the point. The record pulls from pop, soul, folk, rock, bluegrass, and country without ever sounding like it's checking boxes. Anderson's writing brought Bob Dylan to mind a few times too: thoughtful, familiar lyrics from a voice that sounds like it's got stories to tell.

Something More is out August 28 on Bloodshot Records, with a North American tour and festival dates through the summer and fall. If you catch them live, and after hearing “By Now,” you should, be ready to sing along.