(2023) David Wax Museum - You Must Change Your Life

Review:
You Must Change Your Life, the latest LP from David Wax Museum, could have very easily been the band’s swan song, with David Wax – one half of the duo – being rushed to the hospital for a heart condition in late 2022, signing a waiver as he’s being wheeled away and not sure if he was going to leave the hospital alive. “Lying there on that stretcher the thing that kept running through my mind was: at least we made You Must Change Your Life,” said Wax. “Whatever else happened, I felt at peace because this record exists.” He survived, thankfully, but all things considered, You Must Change Your Life would have been a remarkable final farewell to the world. Across a dozen tracks, the husband-and-wife duo – also comprised of Suz Slezak – is as brilliant as it is hard to define. Steeped in folk (both American and Mexican) and Roots music, the band mixes in ‘70s era pop and classic Burt Bacharach orchestration for a wildly eclectic and always entertaining record. The opening title track is deeply infectious ear candy while the very next song, “Best Lover,” is a great 1960s pop throwback complete with woodwinds and chimes, while “Ahualulco” is Mexican folk at its finest, and “Only Ones Awake,” is a frantic, frenetic pop song that stands out as one of the record’s finest moments. And impressively, despite a vast collection of influences and styles, there is not a single track here that warrants a skip. Even the delicate, almost whispered “Desire,” a song that seems out of place on an already disparate playlist, is still a compelling listen and somehow feels like a perfect fit for this collection. Wax thankfully not only survived his recent medical scare but is well enough to be back out on the road with his wife and the rest of the band to tour behind this record. As dark of a thought as this is, if he hadn’t made it, You Must Change Your Life would have been an extraordinary last record to have his name attached to. — glidemagazine.com

Track List:
01 - You Must Change Your Life
02 - Best Lover
03 - Luanne
04 - Ahualulco
05 - Be Patient
06 - Desire
07 - That Night in Richmond
08 - Only Ones Awake
09 - Hey Annie
10 - Summer Wrapped in Gold
11 - Your Heart's a Piñata
12 - Go Break Some Hearts
13 - Back to Mexico


Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk, indie-pop
Country: Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


Note: If you like the music, support the artist