Experiencing
Do What You Must Do is similar to looking through an old forgotten box of letters and pictures on a rainy day. Memories and hopes that are simultaneously beautiful and frail soak through your skin as the disc plays onward. Stand-up bass and violin give
Flashpapr's deconstructed would-be jangle-rock a timeless, classic feel like a black and white photograph. Understated guitar and vocals cut right through to the heart of the matter. Computerized loops and samples add a grainy, hazy texture to the mix; voices, sounds, and thoughts collide, making everyone and everything feel close and far all at once. Taken as a whole,
Do What You Must Do is an enveloping, draining affair that transcends any easy categories such as "indie" or "emo."
Flashpapr will make you sad for the greatest nights of your life but leave you wishing for more. The song "White Flowers" might be among the most perfect bittersweet-romantic narratives ever written -- reflective, sincere, and poetic, immersed in both triumph and failure, much like the collective album. ~ Matthew Kantor