21 Nov 2024
Bannerman - Dearly Departed Album Review
06 Nov 2011 // A review by Alistar3000
I've got a hunch that the new Bannerman album, Dearly Departed, is going to be played a lot in my house. From the first track I was hooked on the richness of the album, the layers of sound, the songwriting, the melancholy yet whimsical tone of the songs. It’s hard not to lay on the accolades; I couldn’t find a single thing to fault and so this is going straight into my list of best albums for 2011.
Bannerman is the creation of one Richard Setford, accompanied by five other musicians on the album (and 4 others when performing live), yet at times it seems as though you’re listening to twice that many, as the sound layers upon itself, swells as the brass section come in, dropping back to just strings and rhythms. Setford has done a fantastic job of creating music landscapes, populating them with characters springing from his mind, telling their stories not just through his lyrics but through the orchestration too.
At times I was reminded of Beirut (on The Howling Wind), sometimes of Chris Isaak, and throughout the album of fellow Auckland outfit Avalanche City, yet it never draws more on more than fleeting fragments of each of those.
Dearly Departed is the soundtrack to slow walks in the late autumn sun, through forests as the afternoon sun flares through the trees shedding their leaves. Let it be your soundtrack too.
Dearly Departed
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About Bannerman
Richie began work on Bannerman in 2005, but with the continued march of One Million Dollars and the sudden appearance of smooth latin cousin, Batucada Sound Machine, he was forced to lock his young offspring away in a cupboard for a few years.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Bannerman
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