Phish
Billy Breathes
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As many of their albums do, Billy Breathes marks a change of songwriting direction for the band. Acoustic-based ballads such as "Waste" and "Talk" reveal a more serious side. Producer Steve Lillywhite cut the LP to just 47 minutes (the band saved the extended jams of "Free" and "Character Zero" for their live shows).
It took them the better part of a decade and five other studio albums, but Phish have finally learned to trust in, and enjoy, the wide-open pleasures of simple, concise songwriting. In doing so, the band has also turned the volume down quite a bit, something that heightens rather than hurts the billowing effect of the singing in "Free" and "Swept Away," and the funky
Read More cut of the choral hook in "Character Zero." There is much to admire in the linear intricacies of Phish's live improvising and their instrumental and vocal precision (the band's note-perfect concert version of "A Day in the Life" is something to behold). But "Billy Breathes" is the first time on record that Phish have emphasized warmth over facility and ambition, and, frankly, it suits them. (
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