Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going. Squirrel Flower

Squirrel Flower leverde de afgelopen jaren drie hele mooie albums af, maar de rek is er nog niet uit, zoals is te horen op het in augustus verschenen album Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, dat de lat nog wat hoger legt.

Iedereen die de muziek van Ella O’Connor Williams kent, weet dat ze als Squirrel Flower met I Was Born Swimming, Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire al drie hele mooie albums maakte. Het in augustus verschenen Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going vind ik nog wat mooier. Naast de gruizige kant is ook de wat meer ingetogen kant van de muziek van Squirrel Flower wat meer uitgewerkt, wat prachtig klinkende songs oplevert. Het zijn songs die zich qua sfeer, muziek en zang makkelijk weten te onderscheiden binnen de indiescene van het moment, waardoor het alleen maar een kwestie van tijd is voordat Squirrel Flower in één adem wordt genoemd met de grote namen in het genre.

Haar mini-album Early Winter Songs from Middle America uit 2015 heb ik niet opgemerkt, maar sinds het begin van 2020 volg ik de muzikale verrichtingen van de Amerikaanse muzikante Ella O’Connor Williams op de voet. In de eerste maand van 2020 verscheen immers, aan de vooravond van de coronapandemie, het debuutalbum van de muzikante die destijds Boston, Massachusetts, als thuisbasis had. 

Onder de naam Squirrel Flower leverde Ella O’Connor Williams met I Was Born Swimming een prachtig debuutalbum af. Het is een album met een donkere of zelfs wat desolate sfeer, waarin verstilde passages worden afgewisseld met gruizige gitaren en de muziek vaak wat psychedelisch, maar soms ook folky klinkt. De fraaie klanken worden gecombineerd met de zeer overtuigende stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, die de dynamiek in de muziek doortrekt in haar geweldige zang. 

Ik noemde in 2020 Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers en Lera Lynn als vergelijkingsmateriaal en dat zijn alle drie persoonlijke favorieten. Met Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire leverde Squirrel Flower in 2021 en 2023 nog twee uitstekende albums af, waarop ze af en toe opschoof richting indierock, maar ook de meer ingetogen songs en een zwak voor psychedelica niet vergat. 

De Amerikaanse muzikante erkende op haar eerste drie albums het belang van een goede producer en werkte achtereenvolgens met Gabe Wax, Ali Chant en de zeer gewilde Alex Farrar, die haar albums nog wat verder optilden. Ik vind de eerste drie albums van Squirrel Flower zo goed dat ik vorig jaar ook stilstond bij het live-album Live At Top Note Theatre, dat toch vooral als een tussendoortje moet worden gezien, maar door de uiterst sobere setting een extra dimensie toevoegde aan de songs van Squirrel Flower. 

Ella O’Connor Williams heeft inmiddels al een tijd Chicago, Illinois, als thuisbasis, maar nam ook haar nieuwe album weer op in Asheville, North Carolina, al werd de ruwe basis voor het album gelegd in Wisconsin. Ook op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is er een rol weggelegd voor Alex Farrar, die heeft bijgedragen aan de productie, maar ook een deel van de instrumentatie voor zijn rekening heeft genomen. 

Het nieuwe album van Squirrel Flower werd opgenomen met een redelijk compacte band en ligt grotendeels in het verlengde van de uitstekende voorganger Tomorrow’s Fire. Ook op haar nieuwe album wisselt Squirrel Flower wat stevigere en gruizige songs af met zeer ingetogen folky songs en ook dit keer zijn invloeden uit de psychedelica niet heel ver weg. De balans slaat dit keer wel overtuigend door in de richting van meer ingetogen en vaak bezwerende songs, die door Alex Farrar prachtig zijn opgenomen. 

Ik was zes jaar geleden al zeer gecharmeerd van de stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, maar de zang op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going klinkt nog wat mooier dan die op de vorige albums. Het nieuwe album ligt zoals gezegd in het verlengde van zijn voorganger, maar ik hoor toch ook weer groei in de songs, die net als op de vorige albums zijn voorzien van een wat nevelige en vooral donkere sfeer. 

Squirrel Flower heeft nog niet dezelfde status als de grote namen in de indiescene van het moment, maar op basis van de kwaliteit van haar albums moet ze zeker worden gerekend tot de smaakmakers in het genre.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://squirrelflower.bandcamp.com/album/say-a-prayer-to-the-gods-of-getting-going

Lost In Motion. Moss

This blog was months old when Moss entered it for the first time, with the album 'Ornaments'. Today it is four years since we last reported on the band, a review of 'HX'. The silence is over with the release of Lost In Motion. Right away in the opening notes that typical plopping Moss bass presents itself. For a likeness think Air on 'Moon Safari' and Serge Gainsbourg and his daughters' solo albums before it. That bass puts me right in the mood for Moss.

A new album by a well-loved band is always a challenge. New music has to be laid over that what came before. Sometimes it is a perfect fit, like with the two recent The Rolling Stones albums, other albums have a harder time, like Lost In Motion and the latest Fontaines DC album 'Dopamine Chamber' and Bettie Serveert album, 'Beaucoup Bad'.

Like the latter album, Lost In Motion started to grow on me. In both cases because I understood that they are not bad albums, just a little more relaxed or introspective than the songs that always pop up in my mind thinking of in this case Moss. Playing Lost In Motion more regularly has put me in its mood more and more. Moss presents an album that was created to listen to seriously, attentively. Do so, and its well thought out details reveal themselves one by one. Musically it is a rich album, with sounds coming from everywhere, including electronics and keyboards.

Promo photo

The album is all about the things we leave behind, take with us and asks the question "can we still grow when we grow old?" Personally, I can add from experience that the answer is yes. Listening to Lost In Motion it seems the album provides its own answer for Marien Dorleijn. He may still "just" be making music, the album contains a level of maturity and introspection Moss had not reached so far. In 'Love' he sings "it's never too late". That is another answer.

Moss' music always has had different layers in it and more so over time. With Lost In Motion another layer has been added to what was already there. It is going to be extremely interesting to see how this unwinds itself live. Moss will tour NL in late winter, early spring 2027. Expect me to be at one of the shows.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Lost In Motion here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/en/products/moss-lost-in-motion 

Beaucoup Bad. Bettie Serveert

Totally out of the blue I read about a new album by Bettie Serveert. After over ten years and having read about all band members having had to take jobs, leaving little time for playing music live, I had given up hope to ever hear new music by one of my favourite Dutch bands from the 1990s and beyond. Right up to 'Damaged Good' (2016) Bettie Serveert had delivered albums that were always between above average to very good. And here's Beaucoup Bad.

I'll admit right away, that after the opening trio songs I was disappointed in what I was hearing. It seems a bit bland and devoid of the grit Bettie Serveert was so good in adding to its songs. The album where that was mostly missing, 'Private Suit' is my least favourite of the twelve records (including the The Velvet Undergound live album).

Having listened more often, because this is not a band that deserves giving up on immediately, I have totally rescinded my earliest judgement. Beaucoup Bad may differ from the three albums that came before, it is growing and growing. We are all moving on life, no longer in our thirties, forties and even fifties, the music changes with life as well.

First of all, I love hearing Peter Visser play guitar. He is a total ADHD kind of player, who manages to play within limits anyway. His style of playing is extremely play- and colourful. He always finds little melodies, licks and notes that embellish a song no little. You can find them in all ten songs on Beaucoup Bad. The album is directly ahead of the competition because of Visser's contribution.

Next is Carol van Dijk's voice. She's a singer that I like listening to. Her voice has aged somewhat, giving it a little edge it did not have in the past. It is more mature and utterly convincing in a song like 'Pray For The Living'. There are more references to prayer on the album by the way. It is so good to hear her voice in new songs.

After all these years, the line up remains the same, except for the drumseat. This is now filled by Stephan van der Meijden. This means the extreme power Joppe Molenaar delivered since 2010 is gone, but it may well be that his style of playing would not have fitted the new songs. There is some classic Betties but also more of The Velvet Underground inspired songs. This requires a higher level of subtlety. Further down the line there is a mix of Bettie Serveert style indie with more classical pop going back to the 1950s before Elvis put everything upside down. Don't worry, there's no Doris Day or Frankie Laine here, but wisps of their music can be traced. Take a listen to 'Sig O' to hear what I mean. The album even ends with a ballad called 'So Long', a rather ominous sounding title for a fan of three decades, but at some point there will be an end to all good things.

For goodbyes, Beaucoup Bad is far too good. Bettie Serveert returns with an extremely strong album, I am very glad to be listening to. In 9 days time, I'll be seeing them in Patronaat, Haarlem. The band will be touring the country, in a leisurely fashion well into 2027. Go out and watch them, as this is one of the best Dutch indie bands of the previous decades.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Beaucoup Bad on Bettie Serveert's website:

https://www.bettieserveert.com/store.html 

 

Bowie For Dummies, #43

Today we present a new rendition of David Bowie For Dummies with new items found on the internet, compiled by Tineke Guise.

This post remains popular with people visiting this blog. It has by far the most views, for years on end. Chances are that there is a lot of new items to be discovered there. This is the 43rd version since we published the first one on 8 January 2017. In this post you find all Tineke's explorations on Bowie on the Internet with the links to music, clips, news, and what not.

Here is the link to the original but updated post where all is revealed:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/bowie-for-dummies.html

 

As the post has gotten too large, it is now cut in two. Here's the link to the second part:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2017/01/david-bowie-for-dummies-2.html 

5 Year Plan. Berthaju

There seems no end to postpunk bands coming out of The Netherlands. O.k., Berthaju is both Dutch and German. To place them immediately, the band is more in the Wet Leg side of postpunk (have you heard the 'Chaise Longue' reference?) than Tramhaus. The music has that same sort of optimistic energy and less of the darkness that the quirky chords and notes conjure up.

Right from the start Berthaju bounces out of the bits and bites of my MP3 file. The band has fun playing this song and wants to share it with anyone willing to listen. Yes, it's a lot of noise. Undeniably it's a lot of fun as well. The intro simply jumps at you. The band goes off singing "Eins zwei drei vier" to underscore their enthusiasm to start off their third EP/mini album with eight songs. As a final comparison, I would venture Dutch band POM, but based on what I'm hearing Berthaju is way ahead of this band, I'm truly a fan of nonetheless.

Berthaju is Bertha Jürges (voice), Zoë Tausk (guitar), Hugo Kurstjens (bass), Senna van Buuren van Zon (drums) and Chris Sigl (producer / musician). The band has already toured extensively and are on the road as we speak. As far as I'm aware there are no tour dates here in NL. Our loss based on what I'm hearing here.

With its debut album Wet Leg made a huge impression on me. It is the latest addition to my personal absolute favourite bands and album. It's impossible to impress me with a record like that again at that level and that includes 'Moisturizer', Wet Leg's great second album. Sorry, Berthaju, but from here it will only get better. 5 Year Plan is a great album, for the simple reason that the band managed to capture so much energy on its record. If there's more energy unleashed during a live show, all involved will have to go on life support: band and audience. Probably only the personnel of the venue with mandatory earplugs in will survive. That energy is combined with seven great songs.

Photo: Risk Media

In the final and eighth song, 'All In My Head', all is wound down. A song that's more suspense than a true composition. Don't worry, the band will go at it later on and quite successfully, ending the album in a successful way.

In the Soviet Union the 5 Year Plans worked well for a while but all was so strict and the terror so debilitating that failure was not an option but happened anyway. All initiative was killed for fear of standing out. This 5 Year Plan is the complete opposite. All initiatives lead to better songs, more energy and better songs. Oh, I had already written that.

I have missed the first two EPs by Berthaju. Here's 5 Year Plan, one of the better records of 2026 so far. What a surprise!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order 5 Year Plan here:

https://berthaju.bandcamp.com/album/5-year-plan