Barragán, Begin Again (Blonde Redhead - Barragán)

Blonde Redhead - Barragán

Why you'll love it - A much needed fresh coat of paint to a beautiful sound.
Why you'll hate it - Not enough good material to hand with previous releases.

The simplest way to win me over on a new album is to do something unexpected.  Blonde Redhead has been slowly defanging their once abrasive no-wave sound for so long, that I had come to expect no edge whatsoever to their latest release.  Not that the etheric tones had been doing them a disservice. 2004's Misery is A Butterfly was a massive indie hit, and their followup, 23 (2007), was arguably better.  The more I look back on their 2010 flop, Penny Sparkle, I saw it more as a general failure than diminishing returns.  Kazu Makino still has a soothing voice, and Blonde Redhead as a whole is more charismatic when mellow.

I wasn't expecting anything different from a new release, just a better slew of songs.  The wonderful surprise Barragán keeps is a slightly new sound for the band.  A more noir-ish dark tone.  It's very open and atmospheric.  The last three albums sounded like they were lowered down to you in a gilded cage.  Barragán comes from a dark alleyway or smoky nightclub.  It's not a huge change, but enough to make me sit up and pay attention.

Barragán starts off strong!  "Lady M" and "Dripping" are two instant classics.  "Dripping" is my favorite song sung by Amedeo Pace since "Falling Man".  The little effects used throughout the track create a strange discordant feeling.  Electronic effects are used much more cleverly here than on Penny Sparkle (where they just came off as gaudy).  There are a lot of gothic themed bands out there that try to mix dark tones with a beautiful performance, but nobody does it better than Blonde Redhead does here.

Then come the simpler songs, which have critics divided.  "Cat on Tin Roof" has come under fire for being too reliant on a basic repeating baseline.  "Mind To Be Had" stretches out over 8 minutes thanks to a very long build.  I've heard these tracks referred to as filler, uninspired, like the band is just fiddling around doing noting...  Completely valid point, and if this were a less talented band, I'd agree with it.  "Mind To Be Had" is honestly one of my favorite songs here.  I think the melody is perfect, and I never want it to end!  Again, Amedeo Pace knocks it out of the park with the vocals, giving the song a lost and desperate feeling.  "Cat on Tin Roof" is like the the pop version.  It's not as good as "Mind To Be Had" but again, I love the vocals.  Kazu has an adorable cadence, and plays with the scales in an enjoyable way.  I think these are great songs with a lot of character.  I'd take them over bland attempts at sincerity any day.

As much as I praise this album for what it does, it probably doesn't do enough to be on my top ten for the year.  "The One I love" has an annoying chorus, with the instrumentals going one way and the vocals another.  "Defeatist Anthem (Harry & I)" is the only one of those long "fiddling around" songs that I'm not a fan of, with it's silly sounding didgeridoo. "Seven Two" ends the album with a whimper, and three tracks away from the last a really good song.  It's easy to forget this album's finer points after the final 10 minutes.

Blonde Redhead is in a lot better place than they were four years ago.  This is a cool album, that tries to do different things without forgetting the kind of band Blonde Redhead has become over the past ten years.  Unfortunately, not all of it works to a great effect.  I say this about a lot of albums, but this would have been stronger if it just had the seven best tracks, and was only 30 minutes long.  If you've never heard of Blonde Redhead before, this is still a great place to start.  If you're looking for the next Misery is A Butterfly, I'd tamper those expectations a bit.