Blue October 'Foiled' album

“Hate me today/Hate me tomorrow/Hate me for all the things/I didn’t do for you” “Hate Me” (Foiled) Blue October isn’t just your average, everyday rock band from Texas. Formed in Houston in the late ‘90s by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother, drummer Jeremy, and devil-horned, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye, the group’s epic live shows and exploration of subjects like mental depression, drug use, love, betrayal, forgiveness and cathartic transcendence have helped them amass a strong, loyal following through four albums.

Their new Brando/Universal album, Foiled, is their first studio effort since 2003’s History for Sale, which was initially released independently by the band, selling more than 17k copies. When “Calling You,” which was also included on the American Wedding soundtrack, began picking up airplay in Dallas and other markets, Blue October resigned to Universal. A double-live CD/DVD, Argue with a Tree, which captured the amazingly symbiotic live relationship between the band and its fans, came out last February, 2005.

That Blue October hasn’t followed the ordinary path to success is clear from the first single from Foiled, “Hate Me,” a song that recalls such aching rock anthems as Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” or Jane’s Addiction’s “Jane Says” for songwriter Justin Furstenfeld’s unflinching look at his own illness, which caused him to be committed to a mental hospital back on that fateful Blue October day back in 1997.

“It’s a song about a relationship gone badly,” he explains calmly. “It’s about being a selfish little prick in a rock band, and just being demolished by that realization.”

“I have to block out thoughts of you/So I don’t lose my head/They crawl in like a cockroach/Leaving babies in my bed,” he sings, the images underlined by the matter-of-fact sing-song way in which they’re delivered. “It’s like, let me just kind of clue you in on what it feels like in my own brain,” he offers.

That brand of intensity is welded to wide screen sound that evokes an array of eclectic influences such as fellow Texas psychedelic bands Tripping Daisy and 13th Floor Elevators as well as prog-rockers Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Flaming Lips, U2 and Coldplay, attracting a hardcore group of fans who not only relate, but ardently sing along with, the band’s songs. “Into the Ocean,” with Delahoussaye’s seductive violin siren call and plucked mandolin, openly contemplates a death wish with so much honesty, fans write to the band, claiming tracks like this have prevented their own suicidal impulses.

“If I have saved other people, I don’t know what to say,” admits Justin. “But if I can do that for them, why the fuck can’t I do that for myself?”

It’s a reasonable question to ask for Furstenfeld, whose first musical memory as a child was hearing fellow Texan Roy Orbison’s plaintive “Crying.” That led to an interest in other melancholy groups like The Smiths, The Cure, Red House Painters and Idaho. Having been in therapy since he was 14, Justin turned to music to get away from his problems. Songs like “What If We Could,” about regret for a failed relationship, the apocalyptic “Sound of Pulling Heaven Down” and “Let It Go,” with its mournful Neil Young harmonica line halfway through, deal with that self-doubt in no uncertain terms, as Justin asks in the latter: “Why do I feel this way?/Why do I kneel?/How could I let it go?/Why do I feel?”

“I don’t remember writing these songs,” he says. “They just come out when it’s getting too much for me. It’s like getting closure. Now, I’m not so hurt about that relationship. I’m actually in a better place now. I’m just waiting to write that happy song. I welcome it with open arms. It’s just that’s not what’s coming out of me now.

“The only time I feel like a sane person and that I’m actually meant for something, honestly, is when I’m on-stage, or when I’m writing. That’s the only time I feel comfortable.”

Blue October came together in 1996, and released their first album, The Answers, in 1998. “Now, that was a hypocritical statement,” says Justin. “Like, I have answers to anything…”

The group was signed to Universal for their August 2000 major label debut, Consent to Treatment, but with Rock radio non-responsive, they were soon dropped, leading to the independent release of History for Sale in July 2003, which was eventually picked up by Universal.

“We’re not an easy band to understand,” says Justin about the decision to return to their major label home. “I just felt at Universal, we had a team of people who understood us, and who loved us for all the right reasons. I wasn’t about to walk through rife with people who didn’t really know me.”

Despite the fact Blue October hadn’t released a new album in two years, a fall ’05 tour was booked, resulting in sold-out shows in Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Tulsa, Little Rock, Omaha, Chicago, Lawrence/Kansas City and Des Moines, proving the band’s audience was still strong, which can be seen in the CD/DVD release Argue with a Tree.

Foiled isn’t just about despair, delusion and dementia, though. “X Amount of Words” is “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with a lively New Order/Depeche Mode dance beat, while the arena-rock anthem, “Congratulations,” is about coming to terms with a former love interest’s new romance, and a willingness to move on. On the other hand, “Drill a Wire Through My Cheek” is a harrowing glimpse into Justin’s Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde bipolar disorder, a devil on one shoulder, an angel on the other, connected by the titular “wire through my cheek,” which Justin is willing to pull to defeat his dark side.

“That’s me at home, when nobody’s around,” he says sardonically.

Still, there’s an element of light at the end of the tunnel, a hopeful optimism that comes out in the album’s final two songs—the sweet soul of “Everlasting Friend” and the idyllic love of the sweeping “18th Floor Balcony.”

“That’s the first love song I’ve ever written without doubt,” admits Justin. “At least I know in my head I’m capable of loving. It’s great to know that my heart is available for other people.”

You can hear that heart pumping—alternately breaking, healing and breaking again—on Blue October’s Foiled. It is a sound you will never forget.

Justin Furstenfeld: lead vocals/guitar
CB Hudson: guitars/vocals
Ryan Delahoussaye: violin/mandolin/piano/vocals
Matt Noveskey: bass/vocals
Jeremy Furstenfeld: drums/vocals

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Blue October - Foiled