Ball of Wax 58 Songs: Green Light Cameras – “Broken”

Phil Chamberlin – aka Green Light Cameras – continues his quest to become Ball of Wax‘s most prolific musical contributor with “Broken,” a morosely propulsive slice of synth-pop arriving just in time to underscore your SAD in the darkest time of the year. The lyrics are many-layered and nuanced (and yes, there is a Christmas tree in there), and Phil’s strident yet pensive baritone has a Bowie-ish quality to it that I admire (especially that delivery of “thunderheads” in the last verse). The production and mixing choices throughout, though, are what keep me coming back to this tune. The melodic ping-ponging guitars (and then synth) on the verse are an absolute delight, and the big climactic moment where everything opens up is just perfect. But then, instead of continuing to ride it out and get bigger and more epic toward the end, Phil has made the surprising choice to slowly bring down the instrumental tracks, exposing his vocal, which brazenly continues with song-ending bombast (see, again, those “thunderheads”). It’s a bold – and, as a singer, terrifying – choice, and it totally works. Yet another piece of skewed pop genius from Green Light Cameras.