Leaving None but Small Birds

This is an exciting collaboration from two heavy rock bands exploring traditional music on an album that very much pushes against romanticised images of folk. The Body, formed in the late 90s are an experimental metal band from Rhode Island, and BIG BRAVE an ambient/noise band from Montréal. Together, they straddle and combine genres in an album that could be a love child between the Big Thief, Stick in the Wheel and Throne.

Featuring distortion, feedback, and dense textures the album explores stories of marginalisation through non-traditional ways. Opener ‘Blackest Crow’ is heavy with droning riffs and cross modality, which complement the narrative struggle and set the album’s tone. Highlights are ‘Hard Times’, in which the vocals are framed in a struggle against the dense textures opposing it. The repeated refrain of ‘Once I Had a Sweetheart’ creates a powerful sense of isolation, which in Appalachian folk music is so often communicated in musical sparseness; here density creates a response that doesn’t pander to traditional tropes. Thought provoking and gritty, this is folk music that tells the tales of hardship empowered through experimental techniques that make you consider traditional tunes in new ways. It’s definitely not background music, but why should it be? This album has something meaningful to say.