Incubus, "If Not Now, When?"

Incubus, "If Not Now, When?" (Epic)

It's been five years since "Light Grenades" gave Incubus its first chart-topping album. So what do they do for an encore? Brandon Boyd, who went solo last year on an album called "The Wild Trapeze," told Noisecreep to expect an album unlike anything they've done. "We're going to kind of challenge our fans with this one," he said. "But I'm excited about that. I think that's what needs to happen." Billboard says, "It's a worthwhile reinvention, but a little more noise wouldn't have hurt, either."

Incubus isn’t just a band to me. Incubus is magic. In fact, Incubus works wonders on the soul. I owe one of my best friends the world for introducing me to Incubus, and if I ever had the chance to actually give him the world, well then, I would. It’s the least I could do. After all, he gave me Incubus.


My love for Incubus started with S.C.I.E.N.C.E. That’s where I began. Then, backwards to Fungus Amongus, and then forward from Make Yourself onward. I have never expected one thing or another from them, I just expect to go on a different journey with every album of theirs. My love of their music evolving as they do. Never once have I been let down.


Incubus is about capturing the beauty of growth and self-realization. I know this sounds like a bunch of poetic mumbo jumbo that I’m spewing after smoking a big fatty around a campfire, but I assure you, it’s not. If the sun, the moon, the stars, and the ocean all decided to join forces and become a rock-n-roll band, they would sound like Incubus.


The new album is further proof that Incubus is a force to be reckoned with and a vessel of inspiration. If Not Now, When? is simply put, a work of art.


“Adolescents” – From If Not Now, When?

So, I was lucky enough to receive an opportunity to listen to the new Incubus album, If Not Now, When? Holy sh*t! I seized the opportunity in the blink of an eye.


“ If not now, when will I stand up and face the bright light? Don't hide your eyes, it's time!
” Here’s how it went down: I was called to a beautiful place, told to lay by the pool on a gorgeous California day, and given an iPod that contained the whole new Incubus record. YES! So, I did just that. I laid by the pool and I pressed play. What happened next, I can’t even describe in words. I took a musical trip to a better place.


A half second into the new Incubus record, the percussion dug itself deep into my chest and marched me into said better reality as if it was its only purpose; me. I was its main purpose.


“If not now, when will I stand up and face the bright light? Don’t hide your eyes, it’s time!”


Melodically, it is poetry in motion. This album will make you fall in love with something inside yourself. I guarantee it. Add to it Brandon’s voice, which sounds better than ever, and you will grow wings.


“I’m not sailor or a preacher, all I have is sleight of hand, I do magic tricks for all the boys in the band.”


They have never been better storytellers, genuine and vulnerable, elegantly powerful; visionaries of a less complicated life.


I fell in love with this album 2 songs into it and here’s why: think of all the things you want to express from the core of your being, a sort of plea if you will. These songs, this band, are laying out for you an ideology to wrap yourself in.


“ I'm not sailor or a preacher, all I have is sleight of hand, I do magic tricks for all the boys in the band.
” If Not Now, When? is cerebral and soulful. It is a bit of a love song to the people who inspire this band and life. It is impossible not to see with clarity while listening to some of these songs and it is even harder to refuse its polite urgency.


This album is the devil and the angel on your shoulders engaged in a gentleman’s conversation. It is the voice of a frustrated soul, but it’s not bitter or resentful. It’s curious.


There are so many points throughout this album that the drums and guitar are the stars. In fact, at certain times, the guitar parts will play YOU. It is clever and educated and seasoned.


Everyone will know the lyrics to these songs after only 1 listen.


It is intriguing off the bat. It is cool and precise. You will get pounded by what it suggests.


I wonder sometimes if Incubus is able to see inside our heads and figure out what it is we fear the most. I wonder how they can see the insecurities that cripple our thoughts. I wonder if WE are THEIR muses….and we are! They write for us, us, the ones on the verge of disenchantment and delusion, and they play us back from the brink. They make us feel like we are their inspiration. This album reminded me to look in all the places that I have forgotten about.


This album is so gorgeous, it almost offends me. There are bonfire moments, moments that just rock, and moments that are down right haunting, holy, and beckoning.


It is f**king awesome.


The very last song on the album sums the whole record up. It recaps your journey and leaves you with something to think about. Food for thought. It is an endlessly thought-provoking album.


In short, If Not Now, When? rules! and I want to have its babies.


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