A New Album, Insight and Sound: Whitney Tease Out New Songs for Pygmalion Crowd

It’s 13:15 Military Time on a Saturday. Grainger Library is filled to the brim with students hoping to cram for their first round of midterms and I am headbanging to “Burnin’ Up” because differential equations can be solved at a later time. I grew up loving the Jonas Brothers. Loving may be an understatement for my infatuation with the trio. But, like most, I grew out of my pop phase after mellowing out in high school and replacing it with whatever was deemed ‘cool’ at the time. There was an itch at the back of my throat though, I needed to satiate my boy band needs with anything but frosted tips and British skinny boys like Harry Styles&co.Queue the end of my senior year, I’m barely an adult and a little angsty about taking the dive into college [mostly scared to start doing my own laundry]. That summer I saw the release of Whitney’s Light Upon the Lake at a little festival in the middle of nowhere. I think I needed the piano plunks featured in “The Falls” or the lyrics which hung around my head in “No Woman,” to help me sift through a platitude of changes that summer. It’s humanizing to recognize yourself in music. Now at twenty, I still turn to the easygoing style that Whitney created in this album. I go to it for the comfort that change is inevitable and that “it’s a shame we can’t get it together now.” Whitney performed last Thursday at the Colwell Playhouse, so for that, I got it together and handed in my homework on time. Whitney’s set was preluded by the Tesla coils which madly swashbuckled around some guy's head. I ran past the electric display pretty quickly and couldn’t give you an honest review if I tried. All I can say is, I’ll walk by it a little slower next year. The Krannert lobby was sparsely occupied by the usual suspects. Jean jacket dotting, finger on what’s new and cool vibe, people. I felt out of place in my sweatshirt/pants combo but also empowered that I was surrounded by individuals with such good taste, maybe I had some of that too. The crowd settled in the steeply seated venue, the lights dimmed and without prevail, Max and Julien entered (the audience's right). They took a seat, glanced around and immediately asked if we were all in school. It threw us off. Are we in school? College? University? Who is still going to classes at this point in the semester? It was silent until Julien added an, “I know ____ is in school” (name removed because not everybody has to wield the details of the show, to be there is to know).  It settled the audience, made us realize how quickly these guys grew to fame and that they really were just like us. A bunch of people looking for a connection. Opening up with the familiar songs, the acoustic duo slowly weaned us into their new stuff, adding general proverbs like “it’s still in the works,” and “we’re writing this on a tight schedule,” and “the lyrics will be tough to remember on this one,” before effortlessly showcasing a throng of new music that sounded true to their first album's style. Clear cut lyrics, simple chords, and Julien's falsettos. Humanizing music, easy for anyone to listen to. Julien was definitely running the show. He quipped between songs with the audience. Julien highlighted a personal story of him entering the Pygmalion scene in 2011, with his old band Unknown Mortal Orchestra and how fun it was. Another memorable moment was when Julien stopped a song mid-riff to consult with Max about missing beats (they ended up replaying a part of the song, much to all of our delight). According to Julien, the band has been cooped up in a cabin in Wisconsin jamming together a new album, he also stated that he needed sleep. Max’s one comment was recounting that his parents attended Illinois. Short and sweet, it was heartfelt go Illini. What made this show more intimate than others was its dialogue. It was awkward. It reminded me of the first time meeting someone’s parents, showing little bits of yourself sparingly and rarely letting your true weirdness slip. It was a night which was honest and showed a more holistic view of a band that rose to fame in milliseconds. They captured the hearts of many complicated teenagers and haven't let mine go since.As of Thursday, I've attended a glorious six Whitney concerts in my life. The most times I have seen any band perform, so I’d like to propose a name for fellow fans of Whitney (in the same vein as Deadheads or Parrotheads), head-spacers. If you know you know.