Digital Vein (2015): Album Review

Digital Vein marks David Cook’s fourth studio album. It was a long 4 year wait between This Loud Morning and Digital Vein. Granted, Cook did drop some singles and music teaser’s here and there, but no full record was ever released. And finally, we get the independent, self-produced, Digital Vein by David Cook. Exciting to finally say. But, does it deliver? The album cover shows Cook’s head, and a bit of his shoulders in frame. He stares directly into the camera with his name in gold written on the left, and the title Digital Vein written on the right. Cook explains that the name is a throwback to his first independent release, Analog Heart. Not just to be cute, but because of the way in which both albums were put together, hence independent. But it’s not all about the cover, let’s dive into the music. The album opens with “Heartbeat”, the song starts with a very calm, steady heartbeat, then comes the first strum of the electric guitar. Followed by the vocals from Cook. “I’ve seen the sun/Disappear before my eyes/Just beyond the highest tide/And falling to the ocean line”. A haunting first stanza. The vocals are calm. The song stays here for a couple minutes until the music goes completely silent, then… the guitars and drums kick in hard. The David Cook we know, his vocals come in high up the octave, singing his heart(beat) out. The song is the perfect opener. It does exactly what it needs to do. Every time I hear it, I want to go conquer something I know probably can’t. And when the song outros with the sound of a heartbeat slowing down, the first track done, fans know, we’re back. “Criminals” was first heard in a teaser for the album in late 2014. It was just a snippet but it sounded good. The song, with the announcement of the new album, was the first single. I immediately was pumped and couldn’t wait to hear it. With the first few listens, I loved it. But after “Carry You” and “Wicked Game” had been released and finally the album, the song went down a lot for me. The song opens with the guitar galloping sound, similar to “Barracuda” by Heart. And the song is catchy and does have good lyrics but I wasn’t feeling the song anymore. Especially in comparison to not only the rest of the album but also Cook’s previous music. But something changed and it started growing on me again. Now I love the song and look forward to hearing it after the beautiful opener. Next is “Broken Windows”. A song that was just pretty good on the first listens of the song. Where the song has really come to blossom is live in concert. I got to see this song performed live and IT’S AWESOME. The song has so much power behind, at first in the verses but especially in the chorus. The song is one of the more “rocky” on the album. Fun fact, Cook had said that the bridge of this song was actually the first thing written for the song. The ball keeps rolling into track 4 “Laying Me Low”. Now this was a single back in 2013, and back then I remember thinking that it sounded different from Cook’s previous stuff. The upbeat funky side to the song makes it hard to not dance to it. Even friends that aren’t big Cook fans always sort of “tune in” a little more when they hear this one. The song sits nicely on the album and sounds as though it was actually produced a little but differently for the release of the whole record. I hear it more in the “stomp” section of the song. But it’s not a big deal at all. “Better Than Me” slows things down as we move towards the middle of the album. The song wasn’t actually written by Cook but rather Chase Forester Foster. Cook talks about how he’s known about the song for 3-4 years and how he never thought he’d be able to pick up the song because it was too good for other people to pass up on. But he was able to cut it and I’m so pleased he did. “Better Than Me” is one of my favourites on the album and Cook performs and tells the story with such conviction. A stand out track for sure. “Carry You” starts with this interesting sounding drum beat of sorts. Over top of that is a bass line, which Cook has said was the beginning of building/writing the song (the bass line). Also a piano is heard playing a catchy little riff before the vocals start. Again, Cook doesn’t fail to give a top notch vocal performance. The thing I love about the song is its simplicity. There’s isn’t much to the instrumental, but it works. And with a delivery like the one could can give, it only elevates the song, like most to be fair. The song builds until it releases starting with a little guitar solo and then finishing out the last chorus on a high. The song really works lyrically too, “You’ve gotta hold on, you’ve gotta be strong/Right here with me if it all goes wrong”. Great lyrics.

“From Here To Zero” was first heard back in 2012 in an acoustic live performance. Before Cook’s reveal of his new single “The Last Song I’ll Write For You” on American Idol, he unveiled “From Here To Zero”. A pretty little song about loving that person until the end of time. The riff at the beginning is catchy as hell and very fun to play on guitar. When I first heard the song I was disappointed for about the length of the first verse that the song wasn’t stripped back more like it was during the live performance video, but that faded away quickly when the chorus came. And now I’m so happy that Cook went down this route. The song as even more layers to dive into with this more theatrical version of the song. I’m so happy that this made the album I might add. “Kiss & Tell” is probably the heaviest, rock song on the album. It’s opening on a guitar solo sounding instrumental, supported by some hard hitting drums, “Kiss & Tell” sounds like it’s going to be a hell of a song. And for the first bit (verse to chorus) it is, but it wears out a little going into the second verse and following chorus. And with each listen of the song afterwards the song just isn’t the great “rock” song it could’ve been. Not that it’s a bad song at all, but it lost a bit of it’s luster with each listen. I also find it interesting that even though it’s more a rock song than the rest of the album feels, it still doesn’t sound the the raw edge that “Bar-Ba-Sol” or “Porcelain” did and I can’t quite put my finger on why. But “Kiss & Tell” by default is my least favourite on the album, but I really like the song. “Wait For Me” was heard for the first time at a songwriter/storyteller night in Niagara Falls in 2014. It was an acoustic version of the song and the first time I heard it, I was hooked. I loved the song and was only happier when I heard it was going to be a single. I, like “From Here To Zero” was a little disappointed that it wasn’t the acoustic version that I heard the first time, but warmed up to the idea of the more theatrical version very quickly. And in fact, I love this version so much more. The piano alone adds a layer to the song that was lacking with just the acoustic guitar. And there is an acoustic guitar heard in the chorus and it’s so perfect the way it was utilized. From where it’s placed, the notes it plays, the sound it gives the chorus. The vocal performance given by David, again, doesn’t lack at all. The lyrics of the song are great too and, at least to me, a little mysterious. “I’m as drunk as the morning sun/A ball of fire and I’ve just begun/To drink you in” What does that mean? I didn’t know the sun was drunk, or could be drunk. Or drink things. But that’s part of the reason that I love the song. I’m not sure a song has to be understood, maybe it just has to be felt. “I’m Gonna Love You” is the truest ballad of Digital Vein. A song about loving the significant other, regardless. It’s a beautiful song with a great performance by Cook. There isn’t much more to say about the song other than that it’s a great fit for the album. “Wicked Game” is the famous Chris Isaac song and is the first cover Cook has ever put on an album. Cook’s version of the song keeps the same meat and potatoes with a twist, obviously coming from Cook. If what Cook has done to songs on idol is any indication of what he can do to a song, this track has great potential. And I’m happy to say it lives up to it. However, it took a few listens to hook me. I didn’t really “get it” the first time I heard the song. It was a little more “left field” than I was expecting the song to be, and it caught me off guard, but now this is the exact reason I love the song. The haunting piano mixed with the vocal performance by Cook really make for an interesting song. The song was originally written for a TV show that never ended up using the song, so Cook held onto it and put it on the album and it really does fit it. BUT, I still wish he’d have left the song of the the album and left it as a bonus track. I don’t know how much I like the idea of putting covers onto full length, original records, but with time I might see things different. But right now, meh. The songs really good though, so. Digital Vein finishes out by offering the song “Home Movies (Over Your Shoulder)”, a song, Cook says, about a memory he has of him and his brothers. He calls the song sort of a call back to “Permanent” on his first post-Idol album David Cook. The song starts with the sound of a projector starting up to roll some celluloid film. There’s a nice piano that starts off the song, followed by Cook’s vocals. The song is a more laid back one. Even the chorus is easier to sing along with then the others on the album and it’s a bit refreshing as well. The song sounds like it could’ve been a country song. David did move to Nashville while writing for the record so this may have played into the lyrics of the song. The songs a nice little closer to Digital Vein, which is a bit of a departure from his past records. It was a long 4 years to wait for Digital Vein. But hell did it pay off. From start to finish there are no real low points like the ones on past records (“Time Marches On”). The album showcases that Cook still has it, and has improved, most notably his vocals, they sound better than ever. The album, as it stands now, is my second favourite, just behind David Cook but is really inching forward with every listen. Was very happy with the record and the songs really came to life live, most notably “Laying Me Low” and “Broken Windows”, as I did get the privilege to see David Cook support this album live. Cook is apparently writing right now for the new record which is great news and hopefully we get it “soon”er than later. My favourite songs from favourite (1) to least favourite (12):