AU - Verbs

Tue 30th Sep, 2008 in Music Reviews

Luke Wyland, the backbone of Portland’s experimental psych-folk stalwarts AU (pronounced ay-you), speaks an interesting musical language. His approach seems to be calculated yet loose, focusing on building on layers of melodies and sounds. So for some, on first listen Verbs may be a little difficult to digest. The album’s calm and lulling nature contains little that will hook you in, leaving you with nothing to grasp onto at the end.

But persist beyond that first listen and there is some genuine beauty to discover within this album’s dense layers. Somehow, despite Verbs’ sprawling and cacophonous nature, Wyland manages to hold it all together. And this is the record’s greatest strength – managing to build that tensions while still maintaining cohesion.

Unlike AU’s debut, which saw multi-instrumentalist Wyland taking the reins over the entire production, Verbs is more of a band effort. Jonathan Sielaff and Mark Kaylor make up the remainder of the group, while a host of Wyland’s friends and musicians (including the 20 person-strong PDX Ecstatic Choir) drop by with a curious contribution of instruments, ranging from the saw to the amplified accordion. This multiplicity of sounds and instruments are what ultimately give the songs on Verbs their warmth and personality.

DD v R, with its multiple layers of tinkling melodies and cascading sounds, is probably the album’s strongest track. Like Animals builds from a simple melodic piano into a richly layered melody reminiscent of atmospheric bands like Iceland’s Mum. Prelude’s atmospheric sound sprinkled with its quiet vocals and a lilting saw melody sounds like it was inspired by the rolling ocean. But it is Sleep that really encapsulates what I’m talking about. The song’s careless, cascading drums offset only by a high-pitched, wailing melody subtly treads that line, constantly sounding like it’s on the brink of falling apart, but in the end keeping it together.