southern records

Okay, I’ll get this over with.

Yes, Aurora is another instrumental record linked to several Montreal bands and the sometimes irritating connotations that come with it. Yes, occasionally ridiculous genre phrases such as chamber-rock, post-rock, art-rock, cello-rock and numerous other stupid rock-isms have been attached to Esmerine. And finally, yes, the myriad of lazy clichés normally trotted out about this ‘scene’ - epic, mournful, apocalyptic, etc. - have often been used to describe Esmerine’s music.

All of this serves only to belittle the sheer majesty of this album. Like the exquisite new Silver Mt. Zion and Hangedup records, Aurora should silence any naysayers claiming things have become stale in the state of Kanada.

Following their portentously (pretentiously?) titled debut If Only A Sweet Surrender To the Nights To Come Be True, Aurora is the second album from Esmerine. The band, on this record, consists of Beckie Foon and Bruce Cawdron (plus assorted rattlers, shakers, tappers and whistlers from Hrsta & Jackie-O-Motherfucker). Both are paid up members of the Constellation mafioso with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire To Flames. Intriguingly, the Esmerine records have as much in common with fellow sonic travellers Rachels and Dirty Three as they do their Canadian contemporaries. Over the course of the album they demonstrate a totally captivating mix of modern classical, with a wee dash of drone, rock and folk melodies.

Managing to sidestep the baggage that comes with any GY!BE associations these days, Esmerine have mostly ignored the rock-with-classical-dynamics and vice versa. What you get instead are forty, perfectly arranged minutes of beautiful, warm, melancholy music played predominantly on cello and percussion with added chimes, piano, sleigh bells and washes of tranquil droning, static and noise.

Melody is the key here, immediate from the first track “Quelques Mots Pliens D’hombre” and drifting continuously through the remainder of the album.

Aurora is much less intellectually difficult and more aesthetically immediate than many of the records associated with this motley crew, thanks in part to the length. Most of my favourite albums could fit on one side of a C90 tape, for those young enough to remember the pre-CDR days. While it’s not exactly “Dead” by Napalm Death or early Husker Du, considering the circles Esmerine play in, there is a definite economy to Esmerine as a whole – one word band & album name, reasonably short running time, songs less than twenty minutes in length. I sometimes feel there’s a danger of lapsing into self-parody when it takes the same time to read through a bands name, album title and track listing as it does to listen to the actual album.

But mainly the genius here lies in the rich harmonious vein running through all 6 tracks. The sound is sparse and intimate, relying on a more contemplative mood rather than the overwhelming, oppressive wall of noise used by many of their contemporaries. Particularly on “Why She Swallows Bullets And Stones” one of the more sedate songs which knits piano, cello and feedback together over a mesmerizing five minutes.

Some perverse part of me wants to find something wrong with Aurora. Truth be told, this is one of few albums to wake me from my ATP Melvins reverie . . . since February. Yes, it is that damn good.

The record closes with “Le Rire De L’ange”. A throbbing, pulsating cello riff (if there is such a thing) and rattling, kinetic drums in the background perhaps indicate there is heavier ordnance waiting to be unleashed on future releases. God knows these increasingly cynical ears need more of this kind of thing.

Hopefully Esmerine will get the recognition they deserve, not as the Constellation side project they’re sporadically tagged with. It’s classical for those who don’t listen to Radio 4. Ignore anyone who tells you this is background music because there is no singer, lyrics or paint by numbers verse chorus verse song structure to focus on. Right now Esmerine are flawless. And beautifully packaged.

Did I mention I liked this?

Esmerine site

Madrona Records site

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