Portugal. The Man - Chris Black Changed My Life (Album Review)
Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Written by Jack Press
It perhaps shouldn’t take six years for a Grammy-winning band to follow-up their breakthrough record, but for Portugal. The Man, broken jaws, global pandemics, and a death in the family derailed their takeover.
Even so, ‘Chris Black Changed My Life’ manages to pick up where 2017’s ‘Woodstock’ left off, delivering psychedelic, groove-laden soundscapes alongside discussions of weighty topics.
The flower power psych-pop of Ghost Town and funky disco-popper Grim Generation settle themselves under the shade provided by breakout single Feel It Still’s umbrella, juxtaposing brass-emboldened summer sounds with anxious thoughts on life and death, ready-made for tackling the winter blues.
But Portugal. The Man aren’t ripping themselves off, they’re building on their own foundations. Dummy’s thumping basslines, lounge piano, and plucky strings suggest they’re making music for sunkissed southern California, while Summer Of Luv, the spiritual successor of Live For The Moment, pairs horns with groovy funk, moonlighting as the soundtrack for skating through post-pandemic Los Angeles.
The titular Chris Black was Portugal. The Man’s fifth beatle, and his death sent vocalist John Gourley down an existential rabbithole. ‘Chris Black Changed My Life’ explores the push of life and the pull of death, often together in tongue-and-cheek one-liners such as “life is a circus, so send in the clowns” and “cheer up Charlie Brown, the end is near”.
Not every dual harmony, line, or sound, is sweet like chocolate, though. Time’s A Fantasy’s ‘808s & Heartbreak’ AutoTune and synths feel criminally outdated, while Thunderdome’s, “Welcome to America, I’m waiting for a miracle,” is so cliche you could call it a Hollywood movie.
But these moments can’t pull the record from the tracks. ‘Chris Black Changed My Life’ isn’t Portugal. The Man breaking new ground, but it is the sextet sounding off on what they do best: sun-soaked songs for the end of the world.
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