The great problem of putting deep emotion to music is the risk one runs of appearing either psychologically disturbed or awash in puerile self-pity. Perhaps because of this risk, even the best pop songwriters to wade in the murky waters of heartache have usually painted with broad, glossy strokes, reaching for the largest, flattest, most universal surfaces of the human experience. Often it takes a newcomer with nothing to lose—or even better, everything to lose—to prove all over again that pained, heart-on-sleeve pop music has a future beyond derisive reviews.

You could say Brennan Strawn, a young musician with a soaring voice and an ear for the epic, has nothing to lose. It’s not as if he were successful by any worldly measure: Five years after the release of his debut, The Grandeur That Was Rome, he remains virtually unknown to those who don’t follow the “similar artists” recommendations iTunes tacks onto obscure, arty Christian acts. Whether or not he will have a professional career is a question yet to be decided.

But personally, Strawn has a good deal to lose by releasing Lowly, essentially a ten-page diary excerpt detailing a depressed madness brought on by suffocating isolation in New York. Especially when he explains the stories behind the lyrics, Strawn displays an eye-opening boldness and a penchant for public confession. But if his plan works—exorcising a period of personal darkness by sharing it with the world—he wins whether or not Monarch does.

Not to worry. While the wave of piano-based, weepy pop that surged from the U.K. and crashed on the shores of the American top 40 has nearly dissipated as a cultural and critical movement, we may now officially have hope. It has certainly been a bleak landscape: Coldplay’s big, stock-market-commanding X&Y was met with sniffing indifference. Hyped global releases from Keane, Snow Patrol, and Travis—some of whom are Monarch influences—were the half-baked pastries served over the course of 2006 and 2007. The Fray and OneRepublic were so dull and derivative that they each fell to mainstream branding and ruinous overplay. But despite these major hits to our yet-to-be-satisfactorily-named genre of Brit-inspired, emotional pop music, Monarch’s entrancing melodies and smooth, effortless singing are a potential new pillar for the crumbling temple.

Lowly is a cohesive work in two respects; in theme (discussed above), and in atmosphere. Both contribute to its success and its detriment. By the record’s conclusion, one can’t help feeling that we’ve cycled through the melody reel more than once and that the lyrics are repeating themselves.

But despite eventually wearing thin (and even when it does), the surface is so lush and the underneath so intricate that the repetitive moments are quickly forgiven and forgotten. I’m willing to concede that my love of this record might be a flash in the pan, but the strong evidences of promising pop craftsmanship are likely to prevail on future projects even if my appreciation for this one wanes.

“Perform,” which likely refers to Jesus’ healing of lepers, is the perfect, triumphant opener, wisely remaining above the story about to unfold. It’s Strawn’s most polished, complete melody, backed by even, muscular strumming and leaping into his feathery falsetto at precisely the right moments. “If You Dance” continues Monarch’s reputation, established firmly on Grandeur, for abundant use of stratospheric keyboard strings. Recalling huge, fairy-tale pop anthems like Keane’s “The Frog Prince,” the song’s stunning, astral beauty belies its subject matter—the sexual tensions of a deceitful relationship. Paradox abounds, but addiction shortly follows.

While always easy listening, most of the tracks demand patience and repeat listens. Monarch wouldn’t seem to be headphone music, but only careful listening extracts the complexity of texture in songs like “Closer Arrows,” Strawn’s ultimate confession and his unchallenged best.

A percussion preset likely stolen from an aged keyboard (it was definitely on the first little Yamaha I owned at age six) opens the track and loops for the next four minutes, while restless synth arpeggios, frantic drumming, swelling guitar riffs, and chaotic vocal layers are piled on top. (The song was also used for Monarch’s only video, directed by Strawn’s brother and drummer, Aaron). The hushed “Find Others” steals the eerie choral backdrop from Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film),” and constructs a simple accompaniment of piano and acoustic guitar for Strawn’s lofty singing.

Like James Blunt’s tear-stained 2005 debut, Lowly musically captures an artist at a moment of conviction and vulnerability, and is an experiment best not tried again. This record cements Monarch’s place as a composer and emotion-wringer, but any attempt to re-create its successes (which are in some ways a re-creation of Grandeur’s successes) would almost certainly fall flat. Until we see what sort of experimentation takes the emancipated Monarch’s fancy next, Lowly is a capable soundtrack for dark days and bright moments alike.

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