I've listened to Frank Black's leaked Honeycomb, and I'm eagerly awaiting its release in June. I had mixed emotions the first time I listened to it, as I imagine most fans have. After all, I've had my face rocked off by the man, and like a sick masochist, I loved every minute of every song. When you put a Frank Black CD in your stereo, you sort of know what to expect: blazing guitars, that manic howl, warped lyrics, and a certain punch, slowed down here and there with little semicolons of acoustic whimsy, and a few surprises interspersed. That is to say, you expect to hear Frank Black playing with the reliably tight Catholics.
He slows it down more than you might expect on this album, and it's not a bad thing - you don't have all of the noise pollution (that heavenly noise pollution) obscuring the lyrical depths that he mines here. And without giving specifics (I'll do more of that closer to release date), there is also very little whimsy to distract his dear listener. He demands that you are pulled into the songs, to hear what he's saying. This is not the time for you to get your face rocked off.
This song is a duet with his ex-wife Jean. It's about the awkwardness of leaving someone that you've become so close to, you've merged into a unit of living.
Frank Black - Strange Goodbye (mp3)
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