Label: Udruga Tondak
Release date: November 23, 2018
Production: Edi Cukerić
Album length: 44:35
Genre: folk rock
Brencl Banda are folk players from Bistrica ob Sotli. This past November they released their third studio album »Korenine svetlobe«, which, together with the live album »V živo« (2014) – RockLine review HERE, brings them to four albums so far. They’ve been active since 2007. This is a band that fuses the traditional melos of Slovenian folk heritage with, to caricature it (you can), the whole broad arsenal of different musical genres. And in doing so, Brencl Banda are a “very” Slovenian band, meaning they’ve come up with a remarkably bold formula blending songwriting sharpness and musical accessibility, drawing on the roots of traditional folk melos. In that sense, as far as folk goes, meaning folk tunes, they’re not only one of the most recognizable acts in terms of original songwriting, but also one of the most accessible and musically catchiest bands active right now, or over the last decade, in Slovenia. A band, in other words, that’s got rhythm and fire!
»Korenine svetlobe« is a new story for the band, a different album. It couldn’t really be any other way, since the band “tinkered” with it for a full five years. For a “layman” of my sort, who gets most of the info that ends up in a review by filtering the content of a given record through the music, I can “off the top of my head” add a few extra facts behind this musical difference compared to the album »Vetrova svatba« (2013). First, the band went through a radical shake-up in the lineup, on violin and bass. That it radiates a different vibe and energy and delivers a new musical adventure for the band is also backed up by the fact that the album was recorded in Pula’s Rojc studio. So, at the tip of Istria, “somewhere” on the Adriatic, and thus at the same time already “somewhere” in the bosom of the restless, wild Balkans.
Even though the band’s style and the sound of its art charisma are well established, a few “deviations” on the album deserve a mention. These positive “deviations” only strengthen the band’s homegrown musical identity. The first “deviation” that really “wakes you up” on the album is definitely Vila. It carries a hefty breeze of alternative flavor and sound, which is probably a reflection of Ruda’s broad, layered “musical enlightenment” and his work in the punk rock outfit Črni Peter, and at the same time, of course, of the band’s (especially Ruda’s) traditional geographic tie of collaborating with musicians from our southern neighbor. Who knows what was flashing through the heads of Brencl Banda’s members while they were in Croatian Pula, since Pula is traditionally famous for a few exceptionally sharp punk rock bands that, back in the days of the former common state, defined “Istrian” punk (which you should by no means confuse with the Rijeka new wave). This track could have become a cheeky punk “nutcracker” if they’d added an arrangement for drums and electric guitar, but as it stands it keeps the playful folk expressiveness the band stands for. It boasts an extremely cheeky lyric and a punchy chorus. If not a hit single, Vila will certainly become a crowd favorite live. It’s got all the predispositions. The band is probably aware of that itself, since at the tail end of the album you can find a thirteenth, “hidden” track, where Brencl Banda repeat the song in a somewhat adapted version. The lead line can bring to mind a horsefly (brencl) that, thirsty for blood, lands on a mare’s rump. The second such “deviation” comes in the middle of the album with the track Srca gospodar. It serves up the instantly captivating and charming vocal approach of Eva Moškon, who, with her exceptional gentleness, intensifies the touch of the emotions on display by the axiom: “The gentler you approach a performance, the harder it grabs and hits!” The intensity of all the emotions is strengthened by feelings of melancholy and longing. The instruments, too, approach this track extremely softly and with an exceedingly refined feel, which has to be internalized for a song like this to grab you. This track as well, or rather this yearning ballad, is one of the album’s emotional peaks.
The album is wildly bold and varied in its ideas. The opening, more subtly pitched Jesenska already signals that it comes across a touch more serious, let’s call it more focused and concise, in how it hones its arrangements, compared to the band’s more tempestuous creative past. Right after it, Anovi (read it “backwards” and you get the lovely female name Ivona) deepens the touch of mysticism, especially thanks to the gorgeous violin motif at the heart of the composition. The band has stretched its artistry across the album and tried out things that are new for them.
Twelve tracks, and still only 44 minutes of music. All of them crafted from head to toe, all with the band’s own homegrown songwriting sharpness, which just goes to show how polished each individual song is. In that sense Brencl Banda are more minimalists and would rather pull the “less is more” lever than “shred” the compactness of their songs with improv experiments or jams. The band is also remarkably capable, if not downright skilled, at juggling songs that are subordinated to the vocals. The vocal tracks are absolutely “vocal”, while in the instrumental numbers the band stretches out in terms of improvising too, although even in these parts of the album it keeps an exceptional musical flow and catchiness throughout. Some songs, like Faun near the end, handle the embedded lead motif in the first part extremely well, one that in another musical story could have come across as totally generic, and the band successfully bridges that trap with bold solutions in the arrangement, modulation and shifts of rhythmic keys, while the track itself is “cut through” in the second half especially by the wild solo seasoning on violin from the superb Ana Mezgec. It’s the longest instrumental track on the album and also the most complex composition.
This is truly an album the band has to play live from start to finish. »Korenine svetlobe« is definitely the band’s most mature and compositionally most accomplished work to date. It was forged over a long time and is wildly bold in its ideas and skillfully varied. In terms of arrangement it’s incredibly well put together and perfected. With it, Brencl Banda have grown artistically by a whole new step of expression. On it they don’t only show off their cheeky folk side; across the album, the band’s subtle side of expression is also very delicately laid bare, and at moments it even steps into the spotlight.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.5 / 10
Track list:
1. Jesenska
2. Anovi
3. Biser
4. Vila
5. Črešnjevska
6. Domača
7. Srca gospodar
8. Podgurska
9. Pesem
10. Faun
11. Rimska
12. Tretja
Lineup:
Ana Mezgec – violin
Rok Šinkovec – accordion, vocals
Matjaž Bajc – double bass
Andrej Boštjančič “Ruda” – guitar, vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Dejan Gotal – percussion
Ive Cukerić – clarinet on track 8
Eva Moškon – vocals on track 7
additional vocals on track 9:
Jana Tavčar
Teja Tavčar
Anita Kunej
Janja Kunej
Milena Kunej
Polona Žalec
Vesna Godler
Andrej Černelč
Martin Hrastnik
