Skimming through my CD collection recently, I came across Director’s debut album We Thrive on Big Cities and it got me thinking about their follow-up, I’ll Wait for Sound…
After being dropped by Atlantic, I’ll Wait for Sound was released in 2009 on Director’s own label, Crapshoot Economics. Still, I’ll Wait for Sound was a hotly anticipated album due to the success of We Thrive on Big Cities.
However, despite reaching number 11 in the Irish Charts, I’ll Wait for Sound was also the last Director album. I remember being shocked to hear they had disbanded, and listening back to their sophomore album I can’t help but feel they had more to offer.
Sound worth waiting for?
Throw on We Thrive on Big Cities when you’re done reading this and then quickly play I’ll Wait for Sound. Not to spoil either for you, but there is a clear difference between them. When Director first landed on the scene, they were lauded for their indie-pop sound. They were fun, We Thrive on Big Cities was a complete listen, and everyone wanted a piece of them (I think I remember them on The Cafe?). Of course, to come back in 2009 with too similar a record would have been risky enough, but was something too different also a mistake?
On the grand scheme of things, obviously not. But Director had tapped into a pulse in Irish music and in a sense were our own version of Franz Ferdinand. To go and put out a much darker, more brooding record would have shunned a cohort of fans who had also grown 3 years older.
But, I’ll Wait for Sound is still a good record. ‘Play Pretend’ and ‘Sing It Without a Tune’ were released as singles and are decent tracks. Other standout tracks for me are ‘You See’ and ‘Can’t Go Home’, an eight-minute heavyweight.
Prior to the album’s release, lead singer Michael Moloney said, “You can expect a much harder sound than the first album but mixed with some of the softest, most delicate tracks we’ve ever recorded. I think we’ve captured more of the live essence of Director on this album. We’ve just released a song call ‘Play Pretend’…it’s quite an intense track and an indication of the kind of rocky sound people can expect.”
Moloney wasn’t mincing his words; play the entire album below.
That’s a wrap!
To round off this review, I was half-thinking of doing a ‘Where are they now?’ paragraph. But any research that would lead to places like Facebook or LinkedIn to check profiles would just be creepy, so that section got the cut.
One parting thought however is that Director’s existence may have been all it needed to be. Like any film or story, the band had a beginning, a middle, and an end. They came, did exceptionally well, went through a period of uncertainty, returned, and proved once again they what they were made of. I suppose you could say they were the heroes of their own story.
How great would it be if they returned to complete the trilogy though?
G.M
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