Cosmo Jarvis
Think Bigger
(25th Frame)
Cosmo Jarvis is well-accomplished, but always fell short of true pop brilliance by being too sardonic. His songs before Think Bigger were filled with sardonic lyrics to the point that they were nearly patronizing. Cosmo was making jokes at the expense of his listener.
Think Bigger moves in a pop-friendly direction, with contagious hooks, infectious melodies, and the created desire to sing along with every track. It’s filled with the same emotions as before, but now they’re accessible and molded to be inclusive rather than exclusively bitter. “Train Downtown” plays with the folk/blues/country overlap, while the lyrics talk about the sweetly bitter ending of summer and youth. “I left a package on the train downtown/That little package bring the whole thing down” is the weight of responsibility and losing the carefree attitude of “Got a licence too/Have a BBQ/Social interaction.”
“Train Downtown” has a moment that sums up Think Bigger nicely. While it might be pop sing-along-accessible, Think Bigger is still raw passionate music. Cosmo has his heart out in his hand and he wants the listener to look at it intently for 39 minutes exactly. With the building tempo, and in a moment of climax, Cosmo verges on screamo, letting lose a perfectly heavy metal interpretation of the line.
“Hopeless Bay” is Brit-pop at its cleanest. It’s melancholy happiness. Cosmo sings “Hopeless bay can be as real/As the pain that made you go,” while in the background a ukulele bounces along playing chords. Think Bigger is still sardonic, but there’s an impassioned plea to sit down beside Cosmo and ruminate about the same emotions.
“There is a bench/You can sit on when you lose/And if your ego is bruised/You’re still admired by the view.”
Think Bigger is a easy to listen to, and any song will have an equal likelihood of getting stuck in any listener’s head for days.
