The Breakdown
Ever since Big|Brave‘s core members Robin Wattie (vocals/guitar) and Mathieu Ball (guitars) experienced a ‘loud can be quiet’ epiphany over a decade ago, ditching the acoustics and plugging in, their elemental sound has set the aerobatic thrill of Wattie’s singular voice within a swirling storm of riffs, distortion and pummelling rhythms. In some ways their last album, 2022’s ‘nature morte’ at the time seemed to represent a pinnacle for this approach, a bold statement where their structural integrity as a trio (with third vital axis drummer Tasy Hudson) resolved itself within a merging of sonic daring and song craft. So the arrival of a new work, ‘A Chaos Of Flowers‘ (available now through Thrill Jockey) comes shrouded with uncertain expectations.
Well the first point to make is that with this release Big|Brave define their own status quo. Seven albums in it means not standing still, not consolidating, pushing their slow core, electric rock with a deeper intensity. Not more of the same then just more than you could imagine. Opener i felt a funeral may unwind like a ritual procession and strain with that blues distortion which is part of Big|Brave’s DNA but at its core is an ancient drone and at its heart a dark folkloric narrative. Wattie’s expressive vocal, seems to be given more room to breath here, at times swathed in reverb then at others more exposed and fragile. It’s a development that underpins ‘A Chaos of Flowers’ as is the subtle percussive breath of Tasy Hudson’s restrained drumming. Renowned for its dynamism and power, the range of textures coaxed from her kit is essential to the album’s abstract tapestry.
The spacious, almost mystic beauty of canon: in canon is similarly brushed by the drummer’s soft beaten cymbal work. While the echoing chords of Ball plus invited guitarist Marisa Anderson’s glistening patterns merge intuitively, Wattie’s singing, stressed but determined, aches out each word. “Languidly I turn over” she reflects at one point as the song builds to a classic rising gothic resolve, which for Big|Brave edges as close as they ever get to some form of convention.
Such a willingness to not overcomplicate is a distinctive contributor to the emotional impact of ‘A Chaos of Flowers’. This incisive minimalism perhaps reaches a peak on the other-worldly incantations of quotidian : solemnity where the cloister echoing vocals come sharpened with synth accents as the swell of distortion surges relentlessly. It’s like Neil Young’s ‘Weld’ sound sculpted into a piece of seminal dark folk. theft is another track which revolves around Mathieu Ball’s arcing guitar sound and tonal control, while a stoic bass synth and the lightest hi-hat tick emphasise the ominous. Wattie unfolds the whole weighty story of a journey through “dark walls of pain” with a reverence and intuitive feel for the poetry. “Only the pale curve of her cheek” is just one of the many indelible lyrical imprints that this song leaves.
For Wattie unearthing sources which inspired the lyrical themes of ‘A Chaos of Flowers’ was fundamental to the album’s integrity. As the singer/guitarist has noted “It is a feeling of relatability and even astonishment really…with how these writers of different standings and eras and all being female-presenting, each expressing these seemingly similar intense moments of individual experiences, of intimacy and madness. We’re alone, and yet, not.” Such connectedness seems to fill the grooves of this record, empowering the band, including their ever-inspirational producer Seth Manchester, to make one of their most profound statements to date.
Big|Brave also enhance the weighty emotional scope of ‘A Chaos of Flowers’ by broadening their soundscape to push at the parameters of out-rock. Bringing input from other musicians into a previously tightly welded compositional group can be risky as compromise can threaten focus but there was little chance of this happening here. Seminal experimental folk guitarist Marisa Anderson, Bhutanese improv fret-worker Tashi Dorji and ambient jazz sax-player Patrick Shiroishi are not simply ‘guests’. On the tracks where they feature their presence is meshed into the collective output, and integral to Big|Brave in that moment.
Shiroishi adds intricate fluttering notes to the multi-textured theft and during the bludgeoning riff colossus of not speaking of the ways coaxes groaning sax harmonics to anchor the song’s mid-section. On the thrilling abstract tone poem chanson pour mon ombre, Tashi Dorji’s writhing, snapping acoustic guitar is the fundamental catalyst for this passionate improvisational splash from the band. A similar dynamic contrast brings a sombre tension to the album’s mercurial closer moonset. Anderson’s bluesy twangs and twists dovetail with Ball’s simmering chords to build the brooding tension in this gothicana, brutal-folk wonder. “I touched your soul in the shadow land” Wattie observes wide eyed before the ultimate crashing noise squall, whipped on by Tasy Hudson’s percussive momentum and given fragility by Anderson’s distant spinning raga.
Big|Brave albums are always complete, exhaustive and rarely hold back but ‘A Chaos of Flowers’ seems to ask questions in other ways. It feels like, by opening out their sound, they have made space for new complexities in the music and the lyrical reflections. On this album they show the bravery of Daniel Blumberg in his undervalued work for Mute, the sonic dexterity of The Dirty Three and the beautiful resonance of Low. Those aren’t meant to be comparators, Big|Brave’s music is singular, but these connections highlight the mighty, mesmeric effect that ‘A Chaos of Flowers’ looks set to deliver.
Get your copy of ‘A Chaos Of Flowers‘ by Big|Brave from your local record store or direct from Thrill Jockey HERE
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