Missed Connection - Barenaked Ladies Reminisce and Reflect on Detour de Force

4.3 out of 5 stars

So, I will admit, I forget about Barenaked Ladies for some reason, and this year was no different. However, every time I listen to them, I am usually pleasantly surprised that they still make good music.

Their new album Detour de Force is overall a pretty good album. I do think it might be 3 songs too long in the sense that I think some of these songs could’ve been put onto an EP instead of being added to this particular album.

I don’t say that because the songs are bad or anything. It just seems like this album was more about putting anything that came up from a songwriting perspective onto one album even though not all of the songs fit the typical sound of the band.

The last song “Internal Dynamo” almost seems like a throw away song to me. It feels like it was just added to make the album feel more full of songs.

The first half of the album is pretty damn good though.

Songs like “Flip”, “Good Life”, “Live Well” and “Flat Earth” are very reminiscent (and very reflective) on the band when they were at their peak of success back in the early 2000’s.

“Good Life” fondly remembers the days of the band being household names while “Live Well” seems to look at the regretful side of not seizing the best opportunities of their younger years for the better of themselves.

The more melancholy songs on the album sort of throw you for a loop if you haven’t listened to a lot of Barenaked Ladies in your day as most people would really only remember the happier, more humorous songs of the band.

Don’t let that fool you though. Their less happy songs are still pretty good.

Then you can listen to “Flat Earth” which, in my opinion, is by far the most poppy song on the album and you will feel refreshed with the Barenakedness again.

Every so often, we miss a new album release as there are literally hundreds of albums that come out each year. It’s hard to catch them all unless you are paying very close attention. In times like this, we try to go back on what fell through the cracks. These are the “missed connections” that we try to follow up.