Castle Project
Diaries of a Broken Heart
(White Whale)
Ex-Spitfire member Ryan Ostiguy wrote this disc after the dissolution of his marriage. And while the title might lead you to believe that the songwriting will be trite — just another series of over-done love-gone-wrong songs — it’s everything but. Diaries, produced by Howard Redekopp (New Pornographers, 54-40), so perfectly captures the rambling thoughts and painful self-doubt that accompanies such a destructive event, you may find yourself thinking that he was reading your mind. Diaries is a difficult and cathartic piece of work which ultimately reaches far beyond its origins. Like Conor Oberst or Elliott Smith, the power (and validity) of Ostiguy’s writing lies in the fact that it speaks so universally. Like when he writes “It’s the look in your eyes/Don’t you want me/like you used to want me,” on “In Frustration.” Or “I’m picking up pieces of broken glass/these cuts on my hands won’t heal too fast/just give me one minute to catch my breath/what little I have to give you/what’s left.” This is for the wronged, the emotionally discarded and betrayed. This is for those who seek answers where there are none, yet continue to torture themselves by repeating the same questions over and over. This is for those who still yearn, still wake up in a cold sweat and find themselves inexplicably crying. It is for the hearts that sink and the chests that tighten. And you have to wonder, after all this, could a person ever regain one’s nobility?
—Dave Hayden
categories: Coast pick
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.