(c) BIG|BRAVE
No other band sounds like it BIG|BRAVE, and that’s a damn good thing – and it can’t be emphasized enough. The Canadian trio knows how to overcome seemingly insurmountable gaps with astonishing ease. Magic always arises between folk, sludge and drone, and that also applies to the successor to “nature morte”, which was released just 14 months ago. But you don’t have to worry about a quick shot; instead, you get the usual artistic examination of, well, the arts. The focus turns from the still lifes of the predecessor „A Chaos Of Flowers“ Poems from folk customs.
Singer and guitarist Robin Wattie sought to find works by female poets with whom she identified and from whom she could draw inspiration. The sheer force with which “I felt a funeral” rises initially comes exclusively from the vocal cords, which recite pointed verses with ominous minimalism. The first delicate, then determined upsurge of the guitars, the dissonant sea of unmanageable menace, then the thundering bass and the dragging drums – the constant work towards complete disfigurement fills with enthusiasm, but the really big explosion never comes. Remaining in a state of shock is incredibly painful.
Every now and then the powder keg is allowed to escalate slightly. “Theft” also loves the constant build-up, the careful approach, the howling instruments and fatalistic loops. Short, specific force finally lets all the senses guess. The short, effervescent “chanson pour mon ombre” is already lurking here, a miracle of comprehensive escalation that fascinates with its intricate rhythm alone. In the final “moonset” Wattie sounds almost otherworldly, as if from another world, alien to herself and her surroundings. The specific folk rock with Americana undertones undergoes an abrupt change in the last two minutes, oversteering and bringing you to your knees with a booming grace.
BIG|BRAVE master the game of musical worlds, moods and extremes like no other band, and that becomes more than clear here again and again. “A Chaos Of Flowers” masters the art of pausing and letting go, lives from small subtleties and cascading torrents of emotional worlds with potential for conflict, which shed their skin with growing enthusiasm and never really reveal where the journey is actually going. The result is rousing, feverish, often spectacular, and yet intimate – just as precisely as only BIG|BRAVE can do.
Rating: 8/10
Available from: April 19, 2024
Available via: Thrill Jockey Records (Indigo)
Website: www.bigbrave.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bigbravemusic
Category: Magazin, Reviews