Biej

Album Title: Long Ride Ahead
Reviewed By: Matthew Warnock
Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)

It’s not easy to write an album that is musically and lyrically deep while at the same time being radio friendly and appealing to a wide enough audience to make the album successful. Often times an album will be intellectually engaging to the point of alienating the general music-listening public, or it will be watered down to appease the masses at the expense of the musical content. Rarely does an album come around that fits into both the artistically stimulating and easily listenable categories. Long Road Ahead by the Indie Rock artist Biej is one of those rare records.
The album’s opening track, “Weather Report,” is a prime example of what makes this album so successful. Beginning with the sound of a deep inhale, the first verse is divided into two sections, one featuring voice and guitar doubling a unison melody line, and the second featuring a strummed guitar part behind the lyrics. Building off of this initial melodic statement, bass is added in the second verse before bringing in strings and the full band, including drums, background vocals with harmony and layers of distorted guitar. Building an arrangement with such attention to the audience’s engagement, as well as maintaining the utmost musical integrity, creates an atmosphere that perfectly frames the song’s repetitive, yet well-written lyrics. Many bands will rely on musical chops, volume and multiple-layers of instruments to create interest in their music, but Biej uses multiple timbres and dynamic variations to achieve the same effect.
There are also moments where Biej takes chances and experiments with the writing, including the sampling at the beginning of “Modern World” and the effects on the intro to “Practice Room.” Both songs effectively weave electronic sounding moments with acoustic and electric guitars, bass and drums, bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary sounds. Both tracks also feature interesting melodic lines from the guitar. These are not screaming rock solos, nor are they simple folk-like melodies; they fall somewhere between the two. The lines are repetitive enough to grab the listener’s attention, and catchy enough to be enjoyable, while still maintaining a strong level of interest. They bring focus onto the guitar and its role in the band, without inserting an unnecessary guitar solo that wouldn’t have worked as well in this context. It is decisions like this that bring to the light the high-level of musicianship that Biej has under his fingertips.
One of the most interesting aspects of the album is that it was all written, performed and produced by one man. After listening to the record in its entirety it’s hard to imagine the amount of work that went into each arrangement, recording every instrument, every overdub and textural layer added. Long Ride Ahead is a labor of love that shines through on each track. Nothing on the album sounds forced, or rushed through in production. The attention to detail, especially on tracks such as “All the Same,” “Dream of Me” and “Her New Favorite Song” is commendable. A lot of time, thought and sweat went into this record and it shows.
Long Ride Ahead is a well written, creatively arranged and masterfully performed record that straddles the line between singer-songwriter and modern rock. It’s the perfect definition of what an Indie album should be, and it’s albums like this that make the Indie Rock world such a rich and diverse musical landscape.

Review by Matt Warnock
- Matthew Warnock- Review You