“I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said” by Icarus Phoenix is a very personal record, in its lyrical analysis of heartbreak, change, and rebuilding. Penned by frontman Drew Danburry following a divorce and the ordeal of negotiating co-parenting, he didn’t hold back in his reflection of the emotionally stormy waters that follow such an event. This means it was recorded in just three days at June Audio in Provo, Utah, with the help of long-time friends.
It’s a musically folk-rock-based album with touches of ambient noise, which gives it that dark, haunting atmospheric quality. Under the guiding hand of producer Jed Jones, who has worked previously with everyone from Post Malone to The Killers, they achieve a neat but natural sound; one that doesn’t feel over polished for those more bare moments of songwriting.
Then, with more guitar by Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova, bass by Justin Pacheco, drums by Andrew Young, and ambient contributions from Chaz Prymek of Lake Mary and Rocky Cordray of Teleprom, the listening experience becomes a layered dimensionality of the overall sonic landscape.
The album feels deeply personal, connected to Danburry’s own trials: his confusion and grief after divorce, the emotional struggle of feeling forced out of his son’s life, his struggle to redefine himself after his foundation has crumbled. It’s somewhat cathartic music, as if every song is another step on the process of dealing with a reality that feels like it is changing beneath his feet.
While each track seemed to be coherent in its mood, the pacing of the album ebbed and flowed in a manner only one could take as the emotional rollercoaster it exhibited. Guitars would be dirty at times, raw, cutting right through the noise, almost with sharp clarity, while at other moments one felt nearly meditated with layers of sound washing over the listener in a calm after the storm. Lyrically, the album opens a window for introspection into a man’s mind as he tries to find his way past the detritus of loss. Herein, Danburry never sugar-coats the pain or confusion; instead, he sets a scene in which listeners might sit with it, recognising and coming to an understanding.
Personal and quite universal at the same time, touching in with everyone having gone through either divorce, co-parenting hardships, or just having the centre of one’s world pulled away.
What makes I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said better in its honesty is that it doesn’t try to tidy up at the end, or it doesn’t try to give easy answers. Rather, it tackles head-on the more difficult emotions, inviting the listener to sit with sadness, and eventually finding some semblance of peace in doing so.
Notably, the album closes on a note of strength and resilience. Even as the tracks are filled with suffering, there is an undercurrent message of hope—yes, hope that we can come out of the worst situations better, stronger, wiser, and more compassionate. I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said by Icarus Phoenix is that record in the musical marketplace which no true, raw, and powerfully charged fan of introspective music should miss. It’s the kind of record that captures the chaotic jagged character of the hardest moments in life but leaves the door open toward healing and light.
You can find more of Icarus Phoenix at:
You can listen to “I Should Have Known The Things You Never Said” below:
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.