Silhouette Rising, from Boston, refuse to dwell on tragedy, and instead focus on the positive. Following terrible injuries sustained in a car accident by frontman and songwriter, and basically the creative force behind the band, Cameron Liberatore, back in 2014, they have nonetheless soldiered on. The ‘Happiness III’ project nonetheless is the band’s final output, as it’s become clear Cameron’s injuries mean he won’t be returning to music any time soon.
The ‘Happiness III’ project is an album of tracks built up from Cameron’s musical ideas, and permanently establishes his legacy as one of Boston’s most passionate and inventive songwriters and bandleaders. Such is his reputation, Silhouette Rising had no difficulty appealing to and gaining the help of musicians such as Howi Spangler (Ballyhoo!) and Tye Zamora (Alien Ant Farm) for the project.
‘Happiness III’ isn’t just a tribute to a formidable musician: it’s an opportunity for the rest of the band to showcase their own talents. The album is strong and bracing, with memorable melodies and dramatic performances, but there’s also the bittersweetness to it, of knowing how short and fragile life really is.
‘Technicolor’ is an anthem with a vibe that reminds us of Death Cab For Cutie, and Jimmy Eat World. It has a potent message, asking the listener to change “what’s black and white” into full colour, and the passion behind the track is brought to life in the video. The song features Howi Spangler and Tye Zamora (on bass), and at the end, we have a very moving clip of Liberatore himself, with his acoustic guitar, singing a tiny fragment of the song which the band transformed into ‘Technicolor’.
The second track is ‘Won’t Be Young Forever’, which was built around a retrieved lead vocal by Cameron himself. The video addresses the accident full on: there’s been a car crash, a hospital room, and a character caught between the real world and a dream. The main character sees his girlfriend slip behind the rugs in a carpet store, thimking she’s playing a trick on her – but then – he realises she’s gone…perhaps for good. We see her leaving him in the hospital, she perhaps realises there’s not a lot that can be done.
Heartbreaking and moving, the music is stirring and beautiful, and although there is much sadness in that this artist will possibly never create again, his music lives on.
Find out more about Silhouette Rising on their Facebook page.
