As a self confessed novice to some styles of the Indie genre, I wasn’t sure what to expect when popping in Bond Street Bridge’s second effort; Spring Summer Awesome Winter, but I was pleasantly surprised at the unique melody and softness of opening track ‘Aimless’ with its Mark Lanegan-esque style vocals that is suited to the blues/indie folk genre; one man band wonder, Sam Prebble is the man with the voice, string arrangements, mandolin and guitars behind Spring Summer... his follow up album to 2008’s The Mapmakers’ Art.
An album suited to the refines of a summer’s day ending with the sunset in sight, Sam Prebble manages to blend a beautiful mix of folk indie acoustic with style and grace, with a unique twist lyrically. Sweet Spanish style guitars and bittersweet, sometimes rambling vocals set the tone and pace for nearly the length of the album, in such a unique way, no track is worth skipping.
‘Birds’ is full of melody and the same deep baritone, a sing song lull, while ‘Rats’ uses multi instruments so skilfully, it almost has a Nine Inch Nails vibe to it, if you listen carefully with eyes closed, a song with a lot of dark ambience surrounds it in a beautiful way, a stand out track that will have you listening more than once. Throughout Spring Summer...’ Sam sets a new style for a solo multi instrumentalists, and takes you deep into a lyrical journey, so odd, yet the pieces fit once you hear the album in full, making it a stand out album, musically in your collection, if not at least lyrically.
The nature of each song somehow captivates a rhythmic feel and each track is as diverse as almost every instrument used in creating a gem of an album. Even those, sceptical of listening to some indie styles of music, will appreciate this album.
Bond Street Bridge was the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Sam Prebble. Sam was a fixture of the Auckland alternative folk scene, playing mandolin, fiddle and guitar with The Broken Heartbreakers, Reb Fountain's Bandits, and the Hannah Curwood Band, as well as appearing as a guest on a range of other projects. He had been playing various instruments for as long as he could remember, and one of his favorite hobbies is learning to play more of them.
In 2008, Bond Street Bridge released his debut album The Mapmakers' Art on Monkey Records, and he then toured extensively around New Zealand, Australia and Europe. The album and the live show impressed audiences, promoters, and critics alike, with Phil Reed describing the album as 'one of the finest collections of homegrown music to cross this desk in a while' in Real Groove magazine. Graham Reid of elsewhere.co.nz included it in his best of 2008 list.
The live set was a solo show in which Sam used loop pedals and tape echoes to build up layers of guitar, violin, beats and vocals to produce a hypnotic, compelling and original sound. Audiences were drawn in to the strange world Bond Street Bridge conjured up with a combination of evocative lyrics and sonically lush instrumental arrangements. Songs about birds rub up against tales of adventure and loss, and covers of old folk songs nestle amongst rich soundscapes.