By Rron Karahoda
Until a few weeks ago I had never
heard of Canadian band Each Other, when a friend of mine called me out to see them play a set at The Silent Barn
in Bushwick. I was blown away and I now have their music playing at almost all
times of the day. Imagine my surprise when I found out that that they have
released a new album through Lefse Records entitled Being Elastic.
Over
the years, Each Other’s sound has developed into a combination of dreamy
beach-like "guitarmonies" contrasted against separately harmonized voices with
drum patterns that seem to anticipate the spaces in the melody. It is a
combination which has the unique effect of throwing into question which line of
music you should follow at any one time, with the solution usually being to open
up and really ‘hear’ it all at once. Added to this complexity is a manipulation
of space and pacing that keeps the music from turning into dense, tiring mush,
and cleverly avoids the recent trap of over-production. Being Elastic is a continuation of this work as Each Other tries to
branch out into other song styles while honing those qualities that are at the
core of their sound.
Their opening
track “About the Crowd” is similar and is almost a medley of these kinds of
grooves as it takes the first 15 seconds to decide what underlying pattern to play.
This is then built up and a minimal vocal section is added right before it
moves into a bridge that slows down before double-timing into a frantic B
section that bears characteristics of the earlier groove without playing it
note for note. The bridge is brought back as an outro of sorts and suddenly it
is all over. It can’t decide what to play for ‘the crowd’ and gives us a
platter of options, all of which mesh together into a delightful ride that
defies the usual need for a singular guiding theme or motif.
The second track
“Send Your Signals” is a foray into punk territory that largely relies on mids
and highs to carry us through, a choice which makes the song sound like the
overriding music in a Pokemon game that plays when your monster’s health drops
to critical levels. It is surprisingly light-hearted and delivers one of Each
Other’s best choruses: “Send me your signals/it’s only me and you”. It is
after this that those anticipated lows make their most prominent appearance,
serving a sense of finality just as the song ends.
Tracks like “The Trick You Gave Up”,
“High Noon In the Living Room”, and “Your Ceiling Is My Floor” resemble older
Each Other tracks, except that they have been largely slowed down and it gives
us the chance for a more nuanced grasp of the intricate conversation that takes
place between the drums, guitars, and vocals. On the other hand “Fine Time”,
“Or Else”, “Relative Supervision”, and to a lesser extent “Swell Patterns”
showcases Each Other’s ability to play with tonality and masterfully create
sections of relative atonality amidst clever harmonies. The result is a bitonal
sound, an effect that is rarely seen and even more rarely pulled off with
grace. This is a sound that is found throughout all of Each Other’s work and is
a big part of what makes listening to their music sound like taking a step into
a musical world so unlike any other. That Each Other has chosen to keep using
it and continues to find new ways to incorporate it into their material is a
welcome decision. It cements their foundation musically and technically without
actually limiting their aural landscape, allowing for songs like Being Elastic’s two final tracks, “Swell
Patterns” and “Relative Supervision” to sit next to each other with relative
ease. The first calls their earlier “Bad Neighbours” to mind but has a rounder
sound and builds to a faster pace before opening up to a simpler texture,
dotted with an odd wispy sound reminiscent of 60’s space operas as the calm
guitar part dissolves away. “Relative Supervision” goes through a ‘medley’ of
its own, switching between grooves of varying complexity while the harmonic
texture goes from a spooky, heavily bitonal sound to a comfortable consonance
before bringing back the ‘spooky’ material sans vocals as a halfway point on
which to end the album.
Each Other’s Being Elastic delivers on its promises
of flexibility and keeps the listener engaged at all times. It’s a side of Each
Other that differs from the energy of Heavily
Spaced and Traces to Nowhere
without sounding like an altogether different band, a feat that few bands can
claim.
Grade: A
Image via Lefse Records
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