"I and Love and You"

The Avett Brothers newest album entitled "I and Love and You" just hit shelves earlier this month with packaging as stark as the change listeners will hear in the band's music contained therein. A blurred vision of an old woman with posture twisted in on herself, whether by pain or pleasure is unclear, appears alone against a black background. Inside, vaguely grotesque renderings of the three band members seem to stare with faces twisted by severity, each one alone in a sea of black. The collection of songs, created with superstar producer Rick Rubin guiding the recording sessions, is comprised of predominately subtle, if not sparse, piano driven arrangements. This is a significant departure from the fairly extensive catalog of independently produced, rather raucous blue grass/new grass/ punk grass albums which have garnered an impressive number of fans over the course of the last few years. The heavy look of the album helps give weight to the "mission statement" displayed prominently on the inside cover in which one of the brothers attests to the omnipresent nature of love and the many ways it influences life. It, like the music, is arrestingly sincere and beautifully articulated with an overriding tone of optimism. The Avett Brothers don't sugar coat there message though. The bleak and the tortured are equally represented. In this way the album artwork serves as vivid counterpoint to the music in expressing the broad scope of the meaning of "I and Love and You".