Constellation
The latest release from Efrim Menuck finds quite a dramatic change to the sound we have come to expect from him. Teaming up with Growing‘s Kevin Doria has seen a move away from the kind of grandiose string arrangements of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion, and more of an embrace of the kind of slow moving, subtly evolving guitar soundscapes for which Growing are renowned.
Efrim’s vocals are still present, but are warped and smeared to become submerged in the overall layers of the pieces. It is a different way of working, and for me it is a fresh method of experiencing those cracked and sorrowful vocals. The kids’ voices and insect buzzing that introduce the album are joined by a circular, repetitive motif that is akin to a siren, and suits the title “Do The Police Embrace?” perfectly. The sorrowful voice is just a part of the subtle layering that builds gradually, with different sounds being introduced, still building towards a crescendo, but
the absence of strings and all the things that we have come to expect makes this an interesting and rather uplifting start to the album; that is, until real sirens arrive and throw a dark glow over the proceedings.
There is a sense of mystery and emptiness on “Fight The Good Fight”, double bass footsteps and another siren drone adding to the Growing-like scree of possible guitar sounds. Efrim’s vocals, smudged and smeary, surf over a wave of electronic swoosh as the slow, awkward rhythm rumbles on. There appears to be a lot of Kevin’s influence across the album, slowing things down and allowing the tracks to unfold at their own pace. The guitars on “A Humming Void In An Empty Place” shimmer like jewels in a long, flat road,
a heat-haze panorama opening out into an empty but burning vista as the voices hover sweetly over the stunned landscape. The feeling is always of gradual motion; there is none of the runaway sweep and momentous drive of Godspeed. This is like an antidote to that, and a salve for all the frustrations that it entailed.
“Joy Is On Her Mount And Death Is At Her Side” feels like Vietnam after the war. It is the ghost of a song, slow moving and shell-shocked, with voices drunk and tired, full of emotion. The track crackles with electricity and feels like the death of dreams. It is really captivating and could be his finest vocal so far, and then leads into the elegiac “We Will”, which with its harpsichord-like sound ends far too quickly.
This album is
a rather fascinating exploration for Efrim Menuck and Kevin Doria, finding them working in a new manner that suits them both. I hope this is the start of something long-term for them, because this feels like the first step towards something that could be really special.
-Mr Olivetti-
The latest release from Efrim Menuck finds quite a dramatic change to the sound we have come to expect from him. Teaming up with Growing‘s Kevin Doria has seen a move away from the kind of grandiose string arrangements of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion, and more of an embrace of the kind of slow moving, subtly evolving guitar soundscapes for which Growing are renowned.
