Album Review: ‘Best of Our Possible Lives’ by Boy Golden

Boy Golden, the stage name of Liam Duncan, released his fourth main studio album Best of Our Possible Lives earlier this year. The Winnipeg-based artist enters a new way of making music, inspired by meditation and reflection. 

Track one “Suffer” sets up the mood of the album: an enjoyable, summer-vibe. The song is accompanied by a satisfying guitar instrumental that grows louder in the chorus. Overall, producing a satisfying effect. Lyrically, the song uses the universal experience of suffering to create a sense of unity. The relaxing beat juxtaposes the lyrics that describe mundane every-day life, and therefore fosters feelings of relatability Additionally, Duncan’s voice pairs well with the production, making “Suffer” a standout of the record. 

“The Matter at Hand” continues the pattern of a relaxing feel-good instrumental. Again, the lyrics follow the theme of the last track. It focuses on the grievances of life, while adding an element of perseverance, and also questioning the meaning of life. While weaker than “Suffer,” this song’s highlight is the guitar in the background — culminating in an enjoyable experience when the song otherwise lacks in other qualities. 

Track three, “New Orleans” unfortunately is the first sidetrack of the album. The melody is below-average, and the way Duncan enunciates his syllables doesn’t work out well. The lyrics are arbitrary and the theme is ambiguous, making the message unclear. And the production does not follow a stable direction. Unfortunately, Duncan’s vocals don’t save this song’s quality, making “New Orleans” the skip of the album. 

“Bad Habits” and “Cowboy Dreams (feat. Cat Clyde)” feature Duncan utilizing vocal layering and soft vocals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well. Specifically, “Bad Habits” sounds more like a children’s book than a song, with an excess amount of repetition, and lines that end with question marks. Duncan appears to be scolding more than he is singing, as his vocal abilities are limitedly showcased. The theme of making mistakes over and over is a theme that lacks originality, causing the song to seem like filler. 

“Eyes” follows suit with the same song-writing style. But instead of being emotion-invoking, the endless rhetorical questions cause the message of the song to be surface level, and vague. 

Attempting to return to the formula of the opening track, “You Got It” is the second-last track of the album. The instrumental is reminiscent of the opening tracks and works well through this song. Although, the song does not stand out like “Suffer” did. A major flaw of the track was a horn-like sound throughout the chorus. It resulted in an unenjoyable listening experience, making the song a stand-out in a negative way. 

The album started with enjoyable guitar and ends the same way. “Best of Our Possible Lives” is the last song of the album. It centres themes of perseverance and unity — sharing the key ideas of the opening tracks. Instruments work effortlessly as they blend with the vocal production; overall creating a relaxing atmosphere. 

Overall, Best of Our Possible Lives as an album has many strong points. Firstly, it for the most part steers away from generic production. While the lyrics in some tracks are cliché, and lack substance, the guitar that is ever-present throughout the record makes up for it. 

The flaws of the album are the opposite; experimentation done wrong. Production that doesn’t work, and songs that misalign with the record’s cohesiveness. Drastic changes in some tracks take away from the typical Boy Golden sound, and serve as harsh contrasts when compared to the more consistent tracks. 

While there are songs centring around heartbreak, the album as a whole emanates positivity and persistence, themes that work well with the happy-esque production. Ultimately, the album is good, and just suffers from incohesive, weak lyricism at times.