Review Summary: Drowning never felt so good the first time out, but floating atop the waves feels just as nice.
The feeling of drowning is known universally. To be so overwhelmed and consumed in panic that your every move is a hapless attempt before you even decide to make it. The relentless force that inevitably crushes your spirits. That trapped feeling that encloses your very being. These words describe exactly what The Brink is not. This album isn’t Prisoner. Gone are the violent cymbal crashes and heavy tom rolls from Nik Kaloper (drums). The growling and roaring that resides deep within Hayley Mary’s vocal range are completely absent in this LP. So what is left?
If Prisoner is a typhoon, then The Brink is its receding ripples. For past listeners, think “City Girl” and “Deep Wide Ocean” and stretch the feelings that each evokes out to encompass an entire LP and you end up with The Brink. Prisoner told the story of the irrestible drive toward freedom that is seemingly innate to every human being. The Jezabels debut record ended on a note of harmony and boundless calm. Their sophomore effort (with the aid of producer Dan Grech) capitalizes on this by expanding this tone of levity. This might explain why Nik Kaloper has effectively been tamed and drawn back across most of the ten-track piece. In his place, Heather Shannon (keys) has a dominant influence throughout. She uses pop synths and ambient keys to propel the band’s sound to new heights and does everything in her power to keep it aloft. The scaling back of Kaloper has allowed the band to strike an equilibrium.
Make no mistake, this LP still carries a palpable energy, it’s just distinct from their past works. The heaviness of “Prisoner” has been replaced with the poignancy of “The Brink.” The brooding crescendo of “Long Highway” has been overlapped by the caressing ebb and flow of “Look of Love.” It’s the same sound contorted in such a way that presents a face of The Jezabels that was seldom seen in the past. The ambience of this LP should not be cast aside as a misnomer. There is energy and variety that propels this album to reach out in an attempt to fill the band’s deep reservoir of potential. This is obvious on songs like “Time To Dance” and “Angels Of Fire” which feel so wide open compared to what they’ve done in the past, but are no lesser for doing so as you can still feel that vintage Jezabels presence throughout.
One song in particular is truly incredible and one of the most complete songs I’ve heard… ever. There is instant gratification in the way it fades in with a steady piano riff, complementing “The End” and its energetic rampancy. The tone is made more subtle by Hayley Mary’s dormant delivery until the second chorus, as she rises up into falsetto while the rest of the band follows suit. This sound cascades down into an interlude that features Samuel Lockwood (guitar) and his stellar skills on the strings. He rips into the harmony with a sweet solo as Kaloper keeps step on the drums. A brief rest gives way to a flood of instrumentation which gradually fades out, escorted by Mary’s soft harmonizing. Amazing.
The massive waves of Prisoner came in and swept us away. Though we were overwhelmed and enveloped in the past, this album is a testament to our ability to escape those confines; that we can extend beyond the suffocating limits in place. Thus validating both their first and second studio albums. Drowning never felt so good the first time out, but floating atop the waves feels just as nice.
