You always have that one album. That one song that always hits you somewhere makes you stop and step back and just relook at everything in your life or in the room you are sitting in. What about if you had an entire album of songs that did that for you? What if all 14 tracks were totally soul binding? Totally so earthshaking good that you felt each one down to the tips of your toes. Well, I have found that album for me. Jack's Mannequin's The Glass Passenger.

Now let me be honest here first off. I had no idea who this band was. I had no idea the history or the story or the previous bands that had existed beforehand. I just knew that I was given this album to listen to, that there was a reason that it feel into my lap. And I wasn't mistaken at all. From the opening of the first track Crashin, with the opening line "I want to hear some music...” you can't help but just smile. That's what I did; I got this huge goofy grin that broke out across my face. Not the one you are properly picturing in your head, but it was one that made me realize this was going to be an album that was going to affect me more then I wanted it to. The album in all has very simple lyrics, with even greater music melodies backing them up. It’s an album full of honest emotions and feelings that a lot of times today are hard to find, especially in a world filled with hatred and lies around every corner. Andrew has found a way to write beautiful, truth filled songs that hit you right in the heart and have you hooked from the first words that he utters.

The lyrics to his music in some way show the struggle that he went through years prior with his diagnosis and his struggle to overcome and rise above it all. You can feel the strength in his voice and his conviction to go on in each track. Having not really heard anything that he has done in the past I can’t really offer an analysis or comparison of any kind, and honestly, I don’t think that I want to do that. I believe that The Glass Passenger speaks for itself. Comparing this album to anything, even past writings of Andrew would be wrong and be a complete injustice of any sort. I believe that each album is a work of its own from whatever artist you are reviewing.

I’m going to end this with my top five songs off the album and one lyric from each that spoke to me:

Swim:
This is my all time favourite song on the album; I can talk about this song for hours. It’s so simple and the lyrics are just the same. It’s a very uplifting song about coming out on top and surviving even when the whole world thinks that you should just lay in the gutter, lyrics like “You got to swim, Swim for your life, Swim for the music, That saves you, When you're not so sure you'll survive,” I believe those lyrics show what Andrew himself was holding onto with his own struggle and I believe that it is what a lot of people need to hold onto. Music can save your life, as I believe it has done with each and every one of us here at the Sound Faction, we’ve found an outlet that lets us rise above pain and push through it. I believe that this song is an anthem for anyone who has conquered something in their life. This is one track that you should listen to, even if not the entire album, just go to iTunes and get this one song, you will not regret it.

Hammer and Strings (A lullaby):
Is a beautiful well written song about reflection and looking back on things from the past and remembering the roads that you’ve been done, and the places that you’ve been, or in this cases the places that his been. “Give me something to believe, in, A breath from the breathing, So write it down, I don't think that I'll close my eyes, 'Cause lately I'm not dreaming, So what's the point in sleeping? It's just that at night, I've got nowhere to hide, so I write you a lullaby, A lullaby,” showcases a look back into times when there was something to hold onto. I believe this song is maybe a look back at times when maybe things were a little bleak and dismal and there wasn’t anything that he thought he could hold onto. If you close your eyes and listen to this song it will cause you to probably feel a couple tears to fill your eyes, trust me, it did it to me.

The Resolution:
“Yeah I'm alive, But I don't need a witness, to know that I've survived, I'm not looking for forgiveness, Yeah I just need life,” now tell me what do those lyrics mean to you? It’s getting the finally realization that no matter what you go through, you honestly don’t need anyone to see it, you just need to know it yourself, you need to hold onto it yourself and never let it go. I’m going to take a stab and say that this was his song of coming to terms with what happened and realizing that he would find his resolution and that he would be okay and he would make it through. The lyrics (as with all his other songs) are extremely simple, but work beautiful with his voice the powerful music behind it, makes it even more timeless.

Spinning:
I listen to this song and I can’t help but let my feet tap and go with the rhythm that he is putting forth for us. It’s one of those songs that just sings of hope and getting through that dark place. “I'm keeping quiet till there's no more sirens, Lately it's hard to keep the hinges on with all the noise, I'll find my words when there's no one talking,” just close your eyes and let the words come to you. Basically, isn’t that what we all have to do? Just close out the noise and let ourselves be found again in all the pollution of the world?

Caves:
The song opens with some gentle ocean noises in the background and a simple piano melody that sent complete chills up and down my spine until Andrew’s soft falsetto voice kicked in and washes over you. You can see it as a very soft and quiet reflection of what he has been through. “And out here, I watch the sun circle the earth, the marrows collide in rebirth, In God's glory praise, the spirit calls out from the caves. The walls fell and there I lay, Saved.” Then came a fury of piano playing and the guitars pick up and you can see this is the point where the reflection ends and the reality that things are better brought forth the strength. Though the lyrics talk of dying and a morphine drip you can tell that there was a hope of getting through it, of walking out of the ‘cave’.

Using a lyric from my last favourite song, “Everything's a piece of everyone”.