Quoting the legendary Talk Talk in your bio is always going to pique my interest, let’s be honest – so it was with some sense of expectation that I plunged Baron into my ears. They’re an intriguing proposition it must be said – a quintessentially English four-piece plundering those quintessentially English traditions of fuzzed-out, psychedelic alt-rock with a pinch of prog and a dash of shoegaze.
It can be a delicate balancing act to walk the tightrope between meandering-yet-delicate atmospheres and crashing rock-outs, yet it’s pleasing to report that Baron manage to deliver on all fronts with aplomb. Put simply, this is a great record.
‘Dragonfly’ sets the tone in blissful haze of ephemeral, summery tones and unashamedly hippy-fied vocals. Already, there’s more than a hint of flowery sixties psychedelia flowing through the delicate guitar plucking and plaintive harmonies yet there’s also a significant dash of ‘Storm in Heaven’-era Verve coming through. This sense of space, of ebb and flow rolls across the next few tracks whilst the Talk Talk influence is at its most prominent with the sparse, quasi-haunting instrumentation of ‘Dark Down’ – no doubting at this point that at least one member of Baron has heard Spirit of Eden once or twice in their time…
Despite drawing from this pool of very distinctive influences, Baron still manage to stamp their material with a definite identity of their own. This comes to a head on the album’s two finest tracks – the back-to-back pairing of ‘Stry’ and ‘Sleepless’. The former sees weaving, mantric vocals drift across an escalating backdrop of swirling rock that eventually blossoms into a ‘wall-of-fuzz’ assault, propelled by some wonderfully organic percussion – again, early Verve comes to mind alongside the more spacious moments of mid-period Isis.
The latter is more restrained but no less impressive – given presence by a distinctive guitar lick and again, those infectious repetitious male/female vocal harmonies, there’s a sense of melancholy that pervades the song. Fading out into a sprawl of bubbling synth notes is an inspired way to close out the piece.
‘Torpor’ is undoubtedly a great English rock album. The production is warm, the musicianship tasteful and some of the guitar tones are a pleasure to wrap the ears around. It isn’t the usual fare that we generally tend to cover here at Ave Noctum but for a taste of something genuinely evocative and undeniably creative, you’d do well to cleanse your palette with this concise journey into Baron’s idiosyncratic world.
(9/10 Frank Allain)
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