The Brothers Burn showcase a creatively free approach to music with this provocative yet funk-driven instrumental album entitled Fill In The Blanks.
What Jessica Said kicks the project into gear – a great drum-line introduces a light level of energy and contrasts well with these retro synths and riffs scattered around the outer edges. The varied voices also help create an interesting dynamic that lets the lyrics fascinate in a whole new way. You get a hint of humor from the experience, a hint of the absurd sometimes, but always the music holds tight to a professional and skillful finish.
These tracks create rhythmic soundscapes loaded with elements of both tribal and electronic instrumentation alike – as well as fragments of voices that help guide you through; building a notably cinematic experience. Escape is all of this and more, a heavy scene from a film, chaotic and all-encompassing – energizing at the very same time. The music rises and falls, taking the listener with it on this winding-journey through the brief yet intriguing historical story-line. These retro, almost eighties-like synths and samples, the bass sound, all add a level of nostalgia to the process that’s likely to connect in a whole other way for some audiences.
Nicked Fedora can be heard below and kicks in with that familiar bass-sound, before leaning off into its own world of sonic exploration. Groove-wise there’s a hint of organic riff-work here that helps build an easy to escape into aura. You can picture a live performance, or you can just lose yourself in the rhythm and the loops. One thing’s for certain, you’ll find immense levels of personality on this album that you’re unlikely to see too many comparisons in. There’s a refreshing, original quality about it all.
The album’s title-track is perhaps the most provocative, the voice seems completely separate from the music – right there in the room with you, seemingly addressing you personally. You start to ponder the concept and the underlying threads, and this depth of thought is brilliantly accompanied by the colorful ambiance of the music. This one is quickly entrancing and rather addictive as it pours out into the room. Buddha Be-Bop follows and creatively fuses everything the title promises – to an uplifting and strangely hypnotic degree.
The Road Not Traveled offers a brilliantly ambient soundscape with a whispered layer of spoken word that helps quickly transport you to this place or this state of mind in question. A personal favourite for its fusion of melody, imagery, and the gentler, captivating nature of the voice. There’s a particular riff running throughout that lingers in your mind long after listening.
Gotta Run at the very end holds close to that Brothers Burn approach, you know the style now, but in terms of the individual building blocks and the idea – there’s a vast and interesting array of eclecticism on the album. It’s like skipping through the various pages of a multi-story-book, or episodes of an old TV show. There’s detail and depth in it all, but still the beat goes on – these fragments of funk and these chord progressions and riffs make for the perfect backdrop to such wonderfully bizarre scenes.
Perhaps this is the go-to entertainment that none of your friends will have heard yet. Perhaps it’s a playlist to help you get on with your daily tasks or a long drive. In either case, the originality can’t be questioned, and it’s a pleasure to hear something so creatively unique right now.
Check out the music on Spotify. Find & follow The Brothers Burn on Twitter or visit their Website.
