First and foremost, I want to express how much I love that so many songs on this record showcase David’s lower register. I’ve always felt that during Idol and Analog Heart, David tended to stick to the middle and upper portions of his range – which are gorgeous in their own right, but I’m glad that he now feels comfortable letting those low notes out to play.

1. Declaration

There are three songs on David’s album that I think are dedicated to the listener – not necessarily his fans, but anyone listening who was not part of the record’s production. “Declaration” is the first of the three; “Life on the Moon” and “A Daily AntheM” are the others. More on that later.

Melodically, the beginning of “Declaration” is like the sun coming up. The song starts on a minor third with “I’ll take you,” but gradually brightens into a major key on the second “too long,” until the chorus blasts out a soaring major fifth “It’s my declaration.” I also love how it builds, starting with a sparse guitar riff, then guitar with David’s voice, then another layer of guitar with that set of three notes on “imperfect words,” then another layer in counterpoint to the previous, then more backup vocals, then the drums, and then BAM, CHORUS! See? Sunrise.

About the CHORUS (which totally deserves its capitalization), I love how much energy this song has. There’s nothing like a 4/4 time signature to really give you that driving force, and this song as it in spades. It just gets your blood pumping.

The second verse, despite its melodic similarity to the first, feels to me less like a sunrise and more like taking a running leap off a cliff. The chord progression in the baseline is fantastic, as are the two blasts of guitar on the first beat of every measure that feel like a heartbeat. And the two sets of guitar runs that lead up to the chorus are possibly my favourite part of the entire song. It’s all just such so EPIC.

The bridge isn’t melodically spectacular, in my opinion, though after watching him perform this song live, I can see the cleverness in having a section with a repetitive melody, because it gives David a chance to work the crowd. I do like the buildup to that ringing glory note, and that two-beat rest before David repeats the chorus. The quiet first repetition of the chorus draws you in with its pretty background music and David’s pretty singing, and the second repetition blows you away again with the force of its sound. I love how they just go all out with the last repetition of the chorus – full percussion, guitar (with that gorgeous solo wailing over David’s voice), and how they all scream with David on “tonight,” all the way to the very end of the song, before slowly fading away.

I don’t want to talk too much about the lyrics, because they’ve already been scrutinized and analyzed by far wiser minds than mine. But what really touched me about these lyrics is the way they sound like an authentic rendition of everything David is feeling right now with respect to his album. There is his immense sense of gratitude to his fans for their support in lines like “You’re my inspiration as I stand alone against the world,” his desire to be taken seriously as an artist and a person and not just a pretty face or a pretty voice (“Do you care what I believe?”), and of course, his fear of being just a flash in the pan that will quickly fade into obscurity in my favourite lyric in the song, “When the light runs from the day, will the darkness be too much?” Just a reminder that this is a man who still cries when his fans sing his songs back to him.

Having said that, I don’t think “Declaration” would have made a good first single, if the purpose of the first single was to attract new fans. Although “Declaration” is melodically superb and a major ear-worm, the lyrics are very confessional, so you need to know a bit of David’s backstory to fully understand the emotional significance of some of the lyrics. For example, I wonder if the line, “wear your heart upon my sleeve” would be as profoundly poignant to me if it didn’t echo corresponding lines in “Therapy” and “Still.” On the other hand, songs like “Light On,” “Come Back to Me,” and “Avalanche,” which did not strike a chord with me the way “Declaration” did, have fairly generic themes, and do not require context for meaning. So while I personally prefer “Declaration” to “Light On,” I can see the wisdom in choosing the latter as a first single – in spite of its initial lackluster reception among fans.

Rating: 5/5
Comment: a terrific last-stretch of a workout song. Also sounds great in the shower.