Recommended Tracks: “Don’t Cry,” “Put Ur Head On My Shoulder,” “Can We Just Go Home,” “Ugly”
Artists You May Like: David Kushner, Lord Huron, Adele
Tom Odell is no stranger to longing and loss, with his 2024 album Black Friday gaining critical acclaim for its intimate songwriting and beautiful arrangements. Now, the singer-songwriter has returned with his seventh studio album, A Wonderful Life.
The latest project feels like a natural continuation of last year’s album with similar tones and lyrical themes, but the subtle additions of a band and a lessening of the large orchestra that was present on Black Friday. While some may find the stripped-back and sharp tonality of Odell’s music to be humourless and unrefined, it’s that very same sound that makes A Wonderful Life feel like a personal heartbreak.
Opening the album is the single “Don’t Let Me Go,” a fearful admission of having love in the current world. With drums, piano, and more notable guitars, the song establishes the fuller band sound of the album, yet the stripped and harsh tone of each instrument is reminiscent of the 2024 album. The large drum space in the mix only adds to this organic tonality, which makes the song feel like a live recording. A dedication of love through hardships, the song perfectly sets up some of the overarching themes of the album with lines such as, “they’re taking your body away / and hopelessly all I can say is don’t let me go.” These quietly devastating lyrics have become synonymous with Odell’s storytelling, quickly capturing and pulling at your heartstrings. “Don’t Let Me Go” is an album opener that wonderfully encapsulates the mood of the rest of the album, while holding out on the most introspective lyrics to come.
“Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder” is the second single and is a soft plea for hope. The soft guitar melody that starts it off feels like rain, and its closeness compared to the previous song heightens its intimacy. Lyrically, Odell uses imagery often associated with homeliness to create a sense of nearness to the song’s subject with lines such as, “The door is locked, the kettle’s screaming.” The piano build gives the song more energy and acts as a beautiful prelude to the strings as Odell stresses, “You’re gonna be alright.” Strings float in and out effortlessly, adding to the dreamlike sound. “Don’t Cry, Put Your Head On My Shoulder” works well to set up the emotional tone of Odell’s subject, giving audiences the sense of both Odell and his lover’s mind.
Sounds of stools moving in the recording room and a bare guitar tone kick off “Prayer,” giving space for the eventual backing vocals to take over. A single violin complements the harsher guitars as Odell sings from the perspective of his grandparents: “When the war is done / just promise that you’ll come and visit us.” The end builds with a choir of backing vocals that embodies the song before the band returns to lead us into the manic “Can We Just Go Home.”
The band makes a big return with an extremely self-deprecating song that reflects the chaos of Odell’s internal struggles. Opening “Can We Just Go Home” is the line, “call the doctor up to the hotel room, see I lost my voice, I’m in a very bad mood,” which hurriedly lashes the listener with the singer’s self-destruction. The contrast from the previous songs’ soft and slow sounds with the much faster guitars and crashing drums highlights the disarray of the lyrics as Odell screams, “Tom, I think you need to slow down / maybe I don’t know how.” While most of the album feels close and personal, this song’s impulsiveness and elevated mania feel the most depressing as you hear the artist fall apart. This grandiosity is suddenly cut off at the end, only heightening the overwhelming sense of loss.
“Why Do I Always Want The Things I Can’t Have” pulls us forward with the piano and guitar giving a nice, new texture as they play against each other. By choosing to use an electric guitar rather than his usual acoustic sound, Odell ensures that the song follows after “Can We Just Go Home” without being jarring. Coming into the middle of the album, this song begins exploring the roots of Odell’s overwhelming sense of failure with the repeating line “we’re on the edge of paradise,” reflecting the sentiment of being able to see perfection but not being able to reach it.
As A Wonderful Life continues, this idea of almost reaching perfection is chipped away at with each song focusing on another aspect of Odell’s insecurities, starting with the sarcastic “Wonderful Life.”
As noted, this album reads as a sequel to 2024’s Black Friday and no song exemplifies this quite like “Wonderful Life. The band sound of the start of the album makes its return as Odell sings of the “devil and angel and their eternal fight.” There’s a striking sense of lyrical growth in this song, starting with seemingly unrelated scenarios before growing to a bleak look at the growing unrest of today’s political climate. The repeating “what a wonderful life” shifts the meaning as the singer contrasts insignificant moments of “a spider in the kitchen trying to stay out of the cold” with “the skinhead in the handcuffs blowing his mama a kiss.” “Wonderful Life” still feels like a protest against the world’s hardships as Odell finishes the song with the repeating “I don’t wanna die”
The last single from the album, “Ugly,” dissects body image and the desire to be perfect, not for yourself, but for someone else. A somewhat sister song of the 2024 single “Black Friday,” it explores the connection between image and love. The lines “You don’t love me / ’cause I’m ugly” are nothing short of heartbreaking as Odell equates his self-worth with others’ perceptions of him. This song feels like the most blatant confession with the most forward lyrics: “I wish I was beautiful.” Similar to “Can We Just Go Home,” this self-loathing leads to the loud but cathartic bridge with the drums constantly crashing and guitars overloading.
“Strange House” is a soft piano ballad that paints a sad picture of nostalgia. The lyrics explore the artist returning to his home, but all innocence is gone. The line “feeling like a kid in a strange house” shows the disconnection from childhood and memories that now seem immature and sheltered. The song feels the most regulated in the album as Odell seemingly explores the last of his hope in a song plagued with guilt and overwhelming weight.
Coming towards the end of the album, Odell asks, “Can Two Old Lovers Ever Just Be Friends?” The band makes yet another return with a new nervous energy as Odell toes the line between old connections and new desires while talking to an old love. Pushing guitar rhythms and high-pitched piano melodies only add to this nervous energy with the lines “I’ve haven’t felt like this in a while,” sowing both unease and longing. The placement of “Can Two Old Lovers Ever Just Be Friends?” in the album is poignant as the audience is now all too aware of Odell’s need for validation and, as such, views lines such as “easy to laugh about it now” with discomforting worry. While by itself it can feel like a giddy love song, its context within the album changes the meaning, highlighting the emotional journey of A Wonderful Life and Odell’s prowess as a storyteller.
Finishing this aching album is the song “The End of Suffering,” which tries to find hope in the darkness. Each verse sets up an exploration of imagery with the line “at the end of suffering there is a …” In the second verse, this end is a “home” where Odell can “shut my tired eyes.” The hopefulness feels grounded as the singer pleads for relaxation and peace rather than grandiosity. A simple band sound and haunting backing vocals add to this feeling as the piano and guitars complement the ever-lurking tinge of sadness in the lyrics. In the album’s final act, the strings make their long-awaited return, sounding their most beautiful as Odell bids farewell to a chaotic yet deafening year.
A Wonderful Life by England’s Tom Odell is an incredible journey that weaves together simple storytelling with big ideas, while still staying intimate and personal with the audience. Each song stands strong on its own, yet as a collective piece of work, they create a world for you to sink into and get lost in.
Keep up with Tom Odell: Instagram // Spotify // Website // YouTube
