At first glance, one wouldn’t believe the amount of influence former Sunny Day Real Estate frontman Jeremy Enigk has on music today. From the now defunct Austin-based emo rockers Mineral to the mainstream and accessible pop sounds of Paramore, Enigk’s influence is apparent – even on opposite ends of the musical spectrum.
As Enigk quietly tuned his guitar and checked his piano last Thursday night at the House of Blues, he surely didn’t look the part. The 34-year-old dressed in drab-colored clothing politely addressed the crowd before moving into the most emotionally driven and absolutely astounding performance these ears have ever experienced.
The night began with “Abegail Anne,” the opening track on Enigk’s first solo record, “Return of the Frog Queen.” The album was released following the first breakup of Sunny Day Real Estate (SDRE). With a full orchestra backing Enigk, “Frog Queen” sounded completely different from the post-punk, ’90s emo sounds of SDRE’s 1992 release, “Diary.” Even without any backing instruments that night, Enigk nailed the acoustic guitar-driven song and breathed new life into it with a change to the lyrics.
Enigk stuck mostly with “Frog Queen” material, but played two tracks from 2007’s “World Waits,” an album that featured much more electric guitar than acoustic. The end product was a similar sound found in another one of Enigk’s side projects, The Fire Theft. However, both tracks Enigk played from “World Waits” were more traditional in terms of his songwriting, and required little else besides guitar, or, piano in the case of the brilliant “Canons.” Both songs transferred beautifully when performed live.
Absent were any songs from “The Missing Link,” a collection of songs that didn’t make it on “World Waits.”
The biggest surprise and absolute highlight of the night was the inclusion of four SDRE songs in the 13-song set. An acoustic version of “Guitar and Video Games,” one of the highlights from SDRE’s 1997 masterpiece “How It Feels to be Something On” sounded better than when played with the full band a decade ago. The crowd stood motionless during all four of these songs, which also included “In Circles,” “The Ocean” and “How It Feels to be Something On.” Enigk’s trademark whiny, nasally voice sounded as strong as ever during the current incarnations of his songs. For him, Enigk said, playing the old songs is for the fans of his music.
Enigk also played two new tracks from his new record, which will be released sometime around January. The album, which is nearly complete, was recorded in Barcelona, Spain. Enigk said that the recording process, which began last October, was something he was not used to.
“The schedule is very different from what I do,” Enigk said in a phone interview. “They have a strict recording system.”
Enigk described waking up to record, having a routine three-hour Spanish lunch and then recording until 8 p.m. For him, it’s usually not so structured. However, this time around, Enigk felt less pressure.
“It was a lot easier on me because [the producers] are amazing musicians and carried a lot of the weight for me,” Enigk said. “The hard thing was letting go of that control.”
It was clear that Enigk was certainly on top of his game last Thursday night. Never were there any signs of an artist trying to relive his glory days. Instead it was more the opposite. Enigk has continued to make great music through the years, and has definitely gone through a serious change in sound. Lucky for us, the results of Enigk’s musical metamorphosis have proven that he’s an artist who should receive much more credit for the quality of work he’s put out for so long.
