Dusk and Summer: The Latest by Dashboard Confessional

I've been waiting for this day for many months. From the minute my internet scouring turned up June 27^th, 2006 as
the release date for Dashboard Confessional's new album, Dusk and Summer, I've been holding my breath. My first thoughts as I fell out bed this morning (literally, after getting my feet tangled in the sheets) were of the album.

I brushed my teeth and rushed to the nearest Sam Goody (well, I rushed to Wal-Mart and then to Sam Goody upon discovering Wal-Mart had failed me once again) to snatch up this long-awaited jewel. And this is what I discovered.

The first song, "Don't Wait," was chill-inducing and inspiring. Encouraging me and other emo fans to "lay your armor" down, Chris Carrabba sings from the depths of his talent and delivers just what I expected. This has quickly become my favorite song on the album.

The rest of the album has great obsessive-potential, though it generally takes me a few days to warm up to the newest works of even my favorite musical artists. The track "So Long, So Long" is after my own heart with a piano intro and the mellow tones of Counting Crows' Adam Duritz wafting from the background.

There's plenty of drawn-out chords and emotion-laden phrases to soothe everyone from the broken-hearted to the desperately in-love. Lyrics such as "days like that should last and last and last" and "to stay like this is everything you'll ever need" capture the essence of Dashboard that dedicated fans will recognize and relish immediately.

As always, each song is written by lead-singer Chris Carrabba. We could expect nothing less from this former Further Seems Forever front man and his knack for expressing the emotions that reside within him and his fans proves consistent in his latest efforts. Dusk and Summer is exactly what Dashboard fans have been waiting for.