Dave Matthews Band's new album: Not your 'Everyday' music

"Tell me what in the world would I sing for — if I had it all."

So inquires Dave Matthews in a track on the band's new album, "Everyday," its fourth RCA studio release and its eighth album since 1991.

The lyrics are ironic given that the band seems to have it all, yet Matthews still has plenty to sing about.

The album's 12 tracks feature Carter Beauford on drums, Leroi Moore on saxophone, Stefan Lessard on electric bass, Boyd Tinsley on violin and Matthews on lead vocals and guitar.

The album is significant not only because it's the first recording on which Matthews has played electric guitar. The variety in guitar work makes the new tracks particularly interesting and is most prominent in "Mother Father." In that track, two distinct guitar sounds complement the lyrics.

The interaction between Spanish and electric guitars in the music reflects the two themes of childlike innocence and the harsh reality of the world in the song's lyrics. The song also expresses the confusion that results when the beauty of the world is viewed in contrast to the hatred and suffering in it:

"Mother father please explain to me/How this rare world's come to be/A place so full of color yet overflowing always/In black and white." These lyrics can also be viewed as a commentary on the song itself, whose music consists of many colorful instruments yet is dominated by the black and white of the two guitars.

The musings on the nature of life and the world in "Mother Father" resemble the themes in some of the band's earlier work such as "Cry Freedom," a track from the album "Crash," and "One Sweet World," from the album "Remember Two Things," the band's first effort.

Links to previous albums can also be found in "So Right," a track on "Everyday" whose lyrics suggest a live-in-the-moment kind of mentality: "Roll uptown to midnight/Then roll on downtown till its light/Because tomorrow we may die."

This theme can also be found in "Two Step," a song from the album "Crash." The words are different but the message is the same: "Celebrate we will/Because life is short but sweet for certain."

The idea is expressed yet again in the classic decree, "Eat, drink and be merry/For tomorrow we die," from "Tripping Billies," another track on "Crash and Remember Two Things."

"The Space Between," another track on "Everyday," evokes themes of closeness and separation in people's relationships. The lyrics seem both joyous and sorrowful at the same time, a feeling reinforced by the track's bittersweet melody. Matthews's vocals and Tinsley's violin in the background make this track breathtaking.

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The song's lyrics suggest the classic idea that "absence makes the heart grow fonder," and that closeness results when people overcome problems together in their relationships: "The space between/The tears we cry is the laughter that keeps us coming back for more." Everyone knows exactly what Matthews is singing about.

One interesting aspect of the band's albums is that the recorded lyrics do not always match what is written down. As a result, the songs have a more vibrant and dynamic feel. They are alive in the band's minds and in their voices and instruments, not just static as they are on paper.

The lyrics for "Everyday" as well as the band's other albums can be found at its Website along with dates for the band's tour to promote the new album.