Belleruche – 270 Stories
Tru Thoughts: 2010
During a state of musical apocalypse, Belleruche could be cut into equal parts and parceled off to a number of important genres, if only to rebuild after the ash settles. This seed bank of band dabbles in funk, blues and electronic technique on their new album 270 Stories. Based in London, Belleruche may also exist as a new formula for UK’s rock model, mixing the regions love for beats with traditional rhythm and blues techniques. DJ Modest often provides the base while Ricky Fabulous provides melody on both bass and guitar. It’s an efficient model, capable of filling your inner ear with waves of rhythm that are sure to bob your head accordingly. Slather on Kathrin deBoer’s vocals and you’ve got one of the best albums to come out of the UK this year.
Some may listen to this album and think, “it’s for dancing,” while others pass it off as a modern take on blues, electrified and personified with a turntable. Both are correct, and that is the beauty of this work, a lack of segmentation and an appreciation for sounds evolved from previous shapes, rather than shapes stitched together. “Shudder & Cry” is carried on the line “It’s a crying shame,” and so it may be a direct homage to the Etta James song of same title. The blues is never reinvented—just passed down.
DJ Modest is appropriately named. His beats accent deBoer’s vocals like a good jazz drummer. It’s a notable characteristic on the track “Ginger Wine”. This track could harbor in a new movement in sexy lounge music, keeping the dark hazy smoke-filled-lounge, minus an ominous drummer, with the addition of a slick, black-rimmed, glasses-wearing dj. There’s room within this track to expand on a completely different album.
Similarly, the repetitive structures on the track “Churro” are thick enough to please Philip Glass, and must be placed on its own pillar. It’s a simple track, which closes the album on a slightly, more experimental note. It won’t go unnoticed. This track has potential in the clubs. If might be more catchy after the third or fourth listen, but for now it’s not one of the album’s smooth tracks. It seems to seep out of the mold as something of itself. There’s an unsettling characteristic to this track that evokes anxiety with the listener.
If this album were a ship, its sails would stretch by the force of deBoer’s voice, which can arrive in the form of both a violent wind and gentle breeze. Any point she makes lyrically is immediately taken as a genuine feeling, as though channeled by truth itself. In short: she sings the blues and she does it well.
4 out of 5
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