In the case of The Way Out, one of the most important of these new ideas for the Books is hypnotherapy. At a Books show at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art in 2009, Nick Zammuto, one half of the band, explained that the duo had discovered and gotten heavily into hypnotherapy, and that this had heavily influenced their forthcoming album. Of course, he meant that they had been listening to recordings of hypnotherapy, not that he and fellow Book Paul de Jong had undertaken hypnotherapy themselves. Their discovery is indeed evident on the album in question, and the recurring spoken hypnosis extracts have a way of making the listener part of the experience. The Way Out is also harder than much of the Books' previous work; there's an edge to it that distinguishes it from earlier Books music, particularly evident on tracks like "I Am Who I Am" and the hilarious "A Cold Freezin' Night."
But whatever can be said about it, all that really matters is that when you sit down and play The Way Out, it's an absolutely amazing listen, a truly moving experience. As always, their music is overflowing with beauty, imagination, humor, and optimism. So yeah...just another Books album.
[Listen to The Way Out at Grooveshark.com]
