GENTLE PARTY ASKS IF WE'RE SURE OF GOALS
On God Complex, chamber pop trio's lyrics are more developed
Given the pedigree of the players that make up chamber pop trio Gentle Party, it comes as no surprise that God Complex opens with a song that is equal parts driving Phillip Glass minimalist repetition married to floating harmonies and melodic pop invention.
The entire album is a study in sonic textures and lush orchestration of the sort fans of artists such as Agnes Obel, the Knife and similar such can be certain to enjoy.
Harpist Elisa Thorn, Juno award-winning violinist Meredith Bates and singer Jessicka are all accomplished solo artists working in genres ranging from pop to avant-garde new music and more.
Their 2017 debut album, Jouska, was part of the Polaris Prize longer list, but it can't hold a note to the deeper dive the combo pursues on its nine song sophomore release. Everything from the lyrics to the arrangements are more developed and executed on the new release, and producer Chris Gestrin can add another feather to his cap for the pristine production.
The leadoff single, Unsafe, and its accompanying video are an uneasy wander through the reality faced by women who want nothing more than to be safe in everyday activities men may take for granted. It's hauntingly beautiful, but also disarming.
Thorn says that isn't surprising given the inspiration for the title track stemmed from her writing about the #Metoo movement.
“No, it wasn't anything to do with our own assorted complexes, but around personal experiences that I had around the #Metoo movement,” said Thorn. “When you wonder if, when artists do bad things, can their art elevate about it. Obviously, our opinion is no, it can't.”
“We all began writing about what was on our minds and — surprise — it was that,” said Jessicka. “Although it was by no means a concept or theme going into the creation of the album.”
There is a cohesiveness to the new material that seems to exist at both the musical and the personal level with the musicians. Does the fact that the lineup of the band has changed from a quartet to a trio have anything to do with this?
“I think that we have such a natural affinity for each other that everything flows really naturally when we are in the room, writing, rehearsing and performing,” said Bates. “It did before as well, and we are all happy with the last album. But now the process seems easier.”
With the addition of assorted effects pedals, Gentle Party can sound like more than the sum of its parts.
Technology certainly plays a part in producing the layered sound of songs such as the expansive Bird Song or Beautiful Beast. There are also key contributions from such local improvisers as cellist Peggy Lee, bass clarinetists Andromeda Monk and Joanna Hauser, clarinetist Natasha Zrno, theremin player Christine Duncan and Gestrin on assorted keyboards and synthesizers.
“The three days in the studio was a lot of sound gathering and experimenting where the forms were in place, but we'd just go crazy and improvise across the theme,” said Bates.
“Then Chris would go in and take those improvised snippets and come up with the whole,” said Thorn. “If anything, that was something we really wanted to do with this session and it came through.”
All three have both musical training and years of varied experience as players and performers. But the lead vocals and harmonies are the diamond in the rough bringing the material together.
Thorn and Bates credit Jessicka with bringing that element to the forefront on God Complex. The vocal stylings are radically different from her solo work or with the band Hunting.
“It is a way more experimental space where you can open up and try things, but I've always had a few different personalities I write through,” Jessicka said. “For this record, the first thing I heard for it was Unsafe, which wouldn't have worked on a Jessicka album. This time, Elisa and I collaborated more than on Jouska, which was another awesome thing to explore.”
That Gentle Party can blend gorgeous and unsettling sounds so well together makes God Complex a unique album. The fact that all three members can feel so fresh coming at the material means they are quite willing to stir it up in different ways depending on the mood. A discussion around the song Black Sheep centres on how many different levels of distortion each player brought into the mix and you just know nothing about the piece in performance will be anything but soft and fuzzy.